When Green Meets Hazel
by SiriuslyObssesed
Summary: "Urgh! You are so insufferable sometimes. I mean—" he cut her off abruptly, by meeting his lips with hers. Shocked, it took her a moment to react. She was kissing James Potter! Then she pulled away quickly, staring at him in utter shock.
1. Guilt, Head Boy, and a Confusing Story

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, as if it were necessary to say it. I thought it was obvious.

Chapter 1— Guilt, Head Boy, and a Confusing Story

The dark sky was streaked with pink and orange. Small dots of purple traced the horizon as a redheaded girl sat, spread out on the grassy slope. The sun was creeping up extra slowly this morning, and the seventeen year old pulled her legs up as she watched it wistfully. Lily Evans tucked an auburn strand of hair behind her ear, sighing. She was staying with her Aunt Rose this past summer. She had the most gorgeous house, with acres of land, and she'd loved coming here as a small girl. However, this summer, she could barely wait for today: September 1st. This had to have been the most miserable summer she'd ever had. It wasn't her Aunt Rose's fault, and Lily would never admit it to her. She'd done her best to try to make Lily feel at home, but it didn't help. Everything reminded her of _them_. Especially Aunt Rose herself. She was her mother's sister after all. Her parent's deaths were all she could think about lately.

Lily had barely realized that tears were squeezing out of her eyes as she thought of them, and she quickly wiped them away. She refused to cry in front of anyone, but lately, it was all she wanted to do. The worst of it all was she'd been there. She'd watch the dirty bastard kill them! They'd been murdered, murdered by none other then the Lord Voldemort, a crazed dark wizard. Lily shuddered at the thought of him. Lily was a witch, a seventeen year old witch who was about to enter her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily closed her eyes, trying not to think of how the year would be different. Nothing would ever be the same…

What seemed like hours later, and probably was, Lily finally rose up, rather reluctantly. Walking back to her Aunt's house, she found everyone in the kitchen already.

"Hello Lily, dear, how are you?" Aunt Rose said, looking up from her cooking, wearing her usual bright, happy smile.

"Oh…fine," Lily replied tiredly.

"Are you ready? You start school today right?" Aunt Rose asked. Lily nodded and sat down, not feeling very hungry, "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked again. Lily only shook her head.

"I'm not hungry Auntie…I'll just go make sure all my stuff's packed." Aunt Rose gave her a worried look. Her sister, Petunia, just glared at Lily. Unlike Lily, Petunia was tall. Lily wasn't short, but she didn't have the extra inches Petunia's long neck provided. Petunia had thin blonde hair, much different then Lily's pretty, red curly hair. Lily was by far the prettiest of the two. A beautiful figure, gorgeous hair, and entrancing green eyes. This left Petunia always feeling jealous. It was true that Lily had always gotten more attention of the two. It hadn't been Lily's fault, but she'd given up long ago on convincing her sisterof this.

"Aunt Rose, leave her alone…she doesn't need it," Petunia sneered, obviously trying to make Lily feel insecure. Lily didn't even respond.

"Petunia!" Aunt Rose snapped, giving Petunia a glare before turning back to Lily with a worried look. Petunia was skinny, no doubt. She always took part in the latest fad diets. At the moment, it looked like grapefruit. Lily wrinkled her nose at the very idea of just eating grapefruit for weeks. She didn't know how Petunia did it.

"It's alright, I'm just feeling slightly sick," Lily replied quickly. Whoops, wrong thing to say…Aunt Rose was fussing over her for the next twenty minutes until Aunt Rose was convinced she was fine (as well as forcing some toast down Lily's throat). Finally, they left for Kings Cross. Lily would've apperated, but her Aunt had insisted on driving her. Besides, Aunt Rose didn't know Lily was a witch…a slight problem trying to explain how she would get there. Petunia insisted she needed to stay. She had a date with Vernon Dursley, her boyfriend. Lily thought about her boyfriend, Chad Michaels. He had broken up with her last year. He now worked at the Ministry, already out of school. He was a year older and said he had to focus on work or something or another. At the time, Lily had been furious with him. Now…it seemed like such a little thing.

Her aunt was chatting about something unimportant, and Lily wasn't really listening. She was trying to think about what to say to her friends. They wouldn't take it well. She knew they'd give her that look. She hated it. That's all she ever received this summer…the pity gaze. She didn't think she'd survive if her friends did that to her. She just wanted it to be normal again…as normal as it'd ever be.

"Lily?"

"Yes?" Lily asked coming out of her reverie.

"We're here," Aunt Rose said, smiling at her niece.

"Oh right…well, thanks so much Aunt Rose." Lily said, hugging her aunt. Aunt Rose smiled.

"Lily, you'll be alright won't you? Are you going to come home this Christmas? I know that you're getting older, but these holidays might be hard…it's not going to be an easy year Lily—"

"I know Auntie, but I think I'm going to stay at school this year…you know." Lily looked down at her feet.

"Lily…you can always come home for Christmas…"

"I know, but you know that I was only staying this summer? I get to start work next year." Aunt Rose frowned at this. She didn't understand of course, "Don't worry…I talked about with Mum and Dad…before…well," Lily felt her throat tightening up. Her aunt just smiled and hugged her niece tightly once more.

"Of course Lily, will you write to me?" Lily nodded, wondering how she would with owl post.

"Wonderful…your parents told me you were Head Girl…they were so proud of you Lily, so proud…" _They shouldn't have been_. Lily thought to herself. She'd half forgotten she was Head Girl. Her parents had been fascinated when they found out. Lily settled with one last nod before taking her trunk, disappearing into the crowds without another look behind her.

Gwen Springs was a blonde haired beauty. Her curls laid delicately on her shoulders, her pale blue eyes shinning brightly as she chatted with James Potter, a seventh year Gryffindor.

"Urgh…where is that idiot anyway?"

"He went looking for Moony…I think he's slightly frightened by you—" James replied, ruffling his hair, a charastic habit of his.

"LILY!" Gwen shouted spotting her redheaded friend. James Potter, a boy with jet black hair that was rather untidy jerked his head around. Gwen smirked at him, "Sorry James, I'll catch up with you later. Besides, _Black_ is probably making his way back." Gwen added, referring to James' best mate.

"See you Gwen…" he said staring at the redhead. Gwen shook her head at James before running over her friend.

"Lily! I didn't see you all summer!" Lily gave a tired smile and Gwen frowned, "What's up?"

"Nothing…exhausted. Couldn't sleep all night," that's half the truth, Lily thought to herself. Gwen nodded sympathetically. Immediately, she jumped into a story about her vacation in France. Somehow it involved a French muggle, escaping on the back of his motorcycle while running from the muggle police. Lily smiled, a sincere one now, "How do you get yourself into these messes?" Gwen sighed and gave Lily a slight smirk.

"You know, I just have a thing for guys with motorcycles. By the way, have you seen Alice?" Lily shook her head, "Julie?"

"Nope."

"Ah…well, let's go find them," Gwen said with obvious excitement.

"Sorry, I can't," Lily began. Gwen raised an eyebrow, "I'm Head Girl this year," she explained. Gwen smirked.

"Of course…how could I forget?"

"Uh…I didn't tell you…" Lily suggested.

"Yes, but it was so obvious," Gwen said, waving that away, "Yeah…you barely wrote all summer. What's with that?" Lily shrugged, muttering about being busy, "Right…well, you go do your Head Girl stuff. Find us in our usual compartment, sound good?" Lily smiled and nodded as Gwen bounced off. That girl was always full of energy. As much as you'd think she'd be a dumb blonde by her frequent annoying questions, she was intelligent. Nor was she prissy, something Lily loved about her. She was a hardcore Quidditch player thanks to her older brother, Tyler. He'd taught her a lot, being Quidditch captain when he'd played for Gryffindor before Gwen had came along. Lily stuffed her trunk in the Head's compartment. Alone, she began to wonder who the Head Boy was. Remus Lupin? He was the Gryffindor Prefect and—.

"I can't believe you're Head Boy!" came a voice.

"That's exactly what I said Moony…it's a disgrace!" Lily frowned. She recognized those voices. The first one being Remus Lupin and the second, Sirius Black. The two were both Marauders, the school's notorious troublemakers. Remus was a bit better then the rest of Marauders. She had worked with him as a Prefect. He was the only tolerable one out of them all. There were four of them: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily couldn't stand them. They drove her nuts with their constant pranks, superior attitudes, and resistance to authority (ahem, her as a Prefect). Oh, they also thought they owned the school, not that every girl falling at their feet helped deflate their heads any.

The door opened slightly, and Lily saw the back of Remus' head. His sandy blonde hair was shaking.

"Padfoot leave him alone, c'mon James—"

"Moony, he can't go in there!" said Sirius, dramatically.

"Sirius…" Remus tried again.

"No!"

"Oh Padfoot, it isn't that big of a deal," that was the voice of James Potter. Did Lily mention he was obsessed with her? Yes, creepy, she knew. Perhaps it was a joke of some sort, Lily didn't know how it started, but she turned him down when he asked her out. Then it became his ultimate quest to get her to date him. So far, he'd failed. At that moment, Remus turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Lily.

"Lily," he said in surprise. Lily forced a smile.

"Hi Remus."

"Uh…are you Head Girl by any chance?"

"Evans?"

"Yes," replied Lily, ignoring James, as his head seemed to find it's way inside.

"Evans is Head Girl?" came Sirius' voice, "Wicked…" Lily let out a sigh.

"Potter, Black, this is the Head compartment, and I'm waiting for the Head Boy, so we can begin the Prefect meeting. You need to leave."

"O contraire, sorry Evans." Lily felt her temper rising already. Remus looked as if he were about to say something…

"POTTER GET OUT!" James stared at her.

"We're having the Prefect meeting outside?" James asked, obviously confused. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You're not coming!" James smirked. That stupid one, his hazel eyes sparkled mischievously…

"I am."

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"No—"

"Lily?" Lily glared in Remus' direction, "Uh…James is Head Boy." Lily didn't respond for a moment, then smiled. Remus had an odd sense of humor.

"Right Remus, and Black and I are getting married." The three boys looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"I see how you feel about me now, Evans," Sirius said giving her a roughish wink.

"Uh, Evans, I really am Head Boy," James said grinning. Then he frowned, "So…why'd you go with Padfoot over me?" he asked jokingly. Lily looked to Remus, hoping for him to contradict his friends. Of course, he did no such thing.

"He's not lying," Remus assured her as James had pulled out a Head Boy badge and gave her his grin that melted so many girls' hearts. That is…all except hers.

"Fine…Black, get out of here! You're still Prefect Remus…right?" Remus nodded. Sirius saluted to them all before departing. Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. Then Lily's gaze fell on Potter. He had an odd look on his face. Lily frowned, "I don't know why Dumbledore made you Head Boy. He's really lost his marbles."

"Aw, c'mon Lily. It'll be a fun year…trust me." Lily rolled his eyes. Trust James Potter? Not if her life depended on it. James was still giving her this odd look she couldn't quite place, "Okay, listen, just let me talk. Got it Potter."

"Yep." Lily raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything she heard loud giggling outside the door. Lily opened it to see Sirius flirting with a Hufflepuff and Slytherin girl. Lily wondered if he knew she was a Slytherin…with the grudges he had against them.

"Hey, get in here." The girls turned and looked at her. Amy Davis, the blonde Hufflepuff flushed. The brunette Slytherin, Marlene Franz, glared at Lily but both girls shuffled in behind her followed by the rest of the Prefects, "Black, go away!" Sirius grinned.

"Aren't you my wife to be—?"

"BLACK!" Sirius just grinned before stalking off. Lily sighed, this was going to be a long year.

"Okay, I think that's it," Lily said finally gazing up at all the Prefects who looked slightly bored. Not that she blamed them, "Just make sure you patrol the corridors and don't let things get out of hand, alright?" Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, "Good, remember to sign up for patrols! The sign up sheet will be in the Prefect's bathroom." Everyone began to leave. Remus waved at James who said he'd be right there.

"Well…that went well," James said flashing Lily a grin. Lily glared at him.

"Yes, because you didn't say a thing the whole time!"

"You said you'd do all the talking!" James exclaimed. Lily paused, vaguely remembering now.

"And since when do you listen to me?" Lily snapped. James opened his mouth then stopped and grinned.

"Fair point Evans, fair point."

"You're kidding!" Julie Maloney's dark eyes widened. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she shook her head, "What was Dumbledore thinking? I mean…Remus is fairly responsible, but Potter?" she crossed her legs, shaking her head although her lips twitched slightly as she held back a smirk.

"I know…ridiculous," Lily said in agreement, "So where's Alice?"

"Making out with Ricky?" Gwen suggested slyly, "Just kidding, she broke up with him this summer..."

"I think she's talking to Frank Longbottom," Julie said grinning.

"Really? He's nice enough…I thought he'd be Prefect…you know, he's not a Marauder and all…" Gwen said thoughtfully. Julie shrugged, "Not to mention a bad kisser," Gwen threw in, having dated him the past year.

"I wonder if she still fancies him," Julie asked absentmindedly. Both Lily and Gwen stared at her, looking shocked. "Uh…you know…you're not still mad about that, are you, Gwen?"

"Mad about what?" Gwen asked, flabbergasted.

"Alice fancying your ex? I mean, when she liked him last year—"

"What? She liked him last year?" Lily interrupted. Julie gave both of her friends exasperated looks.

"Of course! Didn't you all know?"

"NO!" Gwen yelled loudly.

"I thought it was obvious…" Julie said uncertainly. Gwen snorted.

"Really?" Lily asked frowning, "Wasn't she dating…uh…Sirius Black?" Gwen rolled her eyes at that one. Julie nodded.

"Yeah…but she didn't like him, remember? She just went out to…" Julie looked at Gwen who's eyes widened in comprehension. Julie shifted nervously, "You know…because you hated him and…"

"She wanted to make me mad…" Gwen said frowning, "Shit…I didn't even know she liked Longbottom. I wouldn't have gone out with him if I knew that!" Lily looked at her two friends and burst out laughing.

"That's what that stupid fight was over? Merlin!" Lily asked, remembering the huge row between Gwen and Alice the previous year. Julie grinned as well.

"I know, that's what I thought…but I didn't want to take sides…didn't know _you_ didn't know the whole story. You better tell her you don't like Frank anymore…unless…do you?"

"No! I broke up with him after Valentines Day, remember?" Gwen frowned, "Wait, Alice didn't break up with Black until April…then she went out with Ricky?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Julie rolled her eyes.

"She thought you still liked Frank!" Gwen frowned, Lily was trying not to laugh. Julie sighed, "How did you not know this?" Julie asked again. Gwen only shrugged, "Wow…you all are idiots." Lily burst out into laughter while Gwen looked angry and glared at Lily.

"Yeah…well…Potter's Head Boy!" Gwen spat out. Lily stopped laughing.

"Stop reminding me," said Lily sourly.

"Stop laughing at me," retorted Gwen, sticking out her tongue. Julie shook her head.

"So mature."

"Shut up," both girls said in unison.

**A/N: Read and Review please! Thanks a lot!**


	2. Tardiness and Secret Affairs

Chapter 2—Tardiness and Secret Affairs

The four girls, now including Alice were laughing in the carriages on their way to school.

"I'm soooo sorry Gwen," Alice said for the umpteenth time. Gwen rolled her eyes, having talked to Alice about the whole Frank Longbottom issue. Julie sniggered quietly, and Gwen gave her an annoyed look.

"Oh shut up Julie," Gwen snapped. Everyone laughed again.

"I can't believe you didn't know!" Alice said, still grinning widely.. She pulled her chestnut colored hair back with a rubber band.

"Glad you found it funnier then ten minutes ago," Lily said with a smile. Alice shrugged, "So…do tell…what were you doing with Mr. Longbottom on the train ride?" Alice's cheeks pinkened slightly.

"What?" Alice asked, trying not blush but failing.

"You heard the question," piped Gwen.

"Uh…talking," Alice said lamely. Gwen raised an eyebrow, "Really! No, Gwen, stop thinking dirty! I know you are." Gwen just smiled as innocently as she could, "We're just friends…" Alice smiled slyly, "For now…" The four girls laughed as the carriage stopped.

"Ah, back at Hogwarts," Julie said, happily.

"Yep, our last year," Lily said in reminiscence.

"Don't remind me…then we have to get jobs," said Alice. Gwen groaned at this as they hurried into the castle. Lily stopped in mid walk. This was really going to be their last year. _It's hard to believe..._Lily thought to herself as she looked at the familar castle walls.

"Lily?" Julie was giving her a weird look.

"Oh…sorry," said Lily, hurrying after her friends.

As usual, they had a wonderful feast. Dumbledore gave his usual dull and boring speech. Lily almost felt herself dozing off. She was exhausted enough as it was. Eventually he dismissed them.

"Hey…uh…guys?" her friends turned around, "I actually have a separate dorm this year." Lily gave a weak smile.

"Aw that's alright, we can handle the Princess on our own," Gwen said bravely. Lily laughed at this comment. The 'Princess' of the dorm was Michelle Shepherd. She was a beast…with manicured nails. Gwen hated her. She'd never personally bothered Lily, but Lily stopped sticking up for her when Michelle cheated with Gwen's boyfriend in fifth year.

"Lucky…" she heard Julie mutter.

"Yeah…well, I'm not that fortunate either…remember who's Head Boy? We're going to share a common room…no we have separate bedrooms," Lily added at the look on Gwen's face. Gwen grinned sheepishly.

"Good luck with that," said Julie. Lily tried to smile, but her face didn't seem to let her. Watching her friends walk off, she turned to find James Potter standing right behind her.

"Potter!"

"Evans," James acknowledged with a nod.

"What do you want?" Lily snapped. James gave her an amused look.

"Waiting for you. We're supposed to wait for Dumbledore…remember? Or did the perfect—"

"Potter, shut up," said Lily irritably. She really wasn't in the mood for him.

"If you'll go out with me," said James without missing a beat.

"No," Lily said tiredly, "Am I going to have to put up with that all year?" James just grinned. Lily was about to respond when Dumbledore appeared at her side.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, how wonderful to see you. Our new Heads…" Lily glared at James then forced her stare back at Professor Dumbledore who was talking about who knew what. For some reason, she couldn't pay attention as they walked up a few flights of stairs. Was he talking about rounds? Oh, her mind couldn't focus! Lily cursed to herself, Potter seemed to actually be listening for once. Fantastic…urgh! What was her problem…lack of sleep, that must be it. She just needed some sleep…

"Uh, Lily?" Lily looked at James. Professor Dumbledore was giving her a worried look. She saw pity in those bright blue eyes of his. Why...was it because of...oh, right. How stupid she'd been. Of course he knew! Lily had almost forgotten about that for half a second. The sickening sensation had once again returned.

"What?" Lily asked, confused. James gave her an amused look. Would he quit doing that?

"The password…it's fairy lights."

"Oh, right, of course." Lily said, feeling herself turning red. She instead looked hard at the scarlet tapestry of a man with a large mole.

"Well, now that you have that sorted, you'll find your respective Head rooms inside," Dumbledore said merrily, "Miss Evans, if you'd hold on a moment. I'd like to have a word." Lily nodded while James held back, looking curious, "Mr. Potter, Miss Evans and I need to have a private chat."

"She didn't do it." James said immediately. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "It was Sirius and I…we didn't know…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled, "Now perhaps you should go to bed before your plan is given away. After all Mr. Potter, I am still the Headmaster." James nodded and disappeared behind the tapestry as he muttered the password.

Professor Dumbledore turned his steady gaze onto Lily. She forced herself to look at him. His crooked nose twitched slightly and he adjusted his moon shaped spectacles, "Miss Evans."

"Professor, I think I know what this is about, and I'm fine." Lily said quickly. Dumbledore gave her a sad smile.

"Miss Evans, I know this hasn't been the easiest summer for you—ah, let me finish—" he said as Lily opened her mouth to speak, "However, you have handled this much better then many great wizards or witches I know. I'm sure your parents were wonderful people, and I'm sorry I never had the pleasure of meeting them." Lily didn't know what to say…she wasn't sure if she could say anything at the moment. She felt as if she was going to cry, but she wouldn't. Lily Evans did not cry.

"Thank you sir," Lily said looking at her shoes. They were old, black, and slightly scuffed up. She really needed to buy a new pair…

"Lily, you know that there are always people to talk to," he looked at her from over his spectacles, "Your friends, the staff, myself…there are always people there for you." Lily stared up and met his gaze. She nodded slowly.

"I know," Lily said quietly. Dumbledore didn't seem convinced, but he didn't say anything about that. Instead he gave a resigned sigh.

"Alright then, goodnight Miss Evans."

"Goodnight Professor," Lily said turning to the man with the mole, "Fairy lights," she said with impatience. The man looked at her curiously.

"What was that about?"

"Fairy Lights," Lily insisted. It sighed and swung open to a small common room. It wasn't as large as the Gryffindor common room, but it still had a large fire, a couch, two armchairs and a large oak table. It was decorated in the Gryffindor colors, gold and scarlet. Lily was examining the bookshelf when a voice startled her.

"What did Dumbledore want Evans? You didn't get in trouble…did you?"

"No, of course not! By the way, what are you and Black planning?" Lily asked, steering away the conversation.

"Nothing, but we…uh…might've…uh…"

"I don't even want to know," Lily said with a heavy sigh, "Listen Potter, you need to cut it out. You have a responsibility now which means no more pranks."

"What?" James yelped. Lily smirked.

"You're Head Boy! You need to set a good example. That means no more hexing people in the corridors or picking on first years or fighting with Slytherins—"

"Hey, that isn't always my fault." Lily gave him a look of disbelief, "No! They always start it! Prior to your belief I don't _always_ want detention."

"Oh right…only some of the time?"

"Exactly."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Oh."

"Potter, go to bed," said Lily finally. He didn't move.

"Only if you'll go to Hogsmade with me," Lily rolled her eyes and shut the door to her own bedroom with a slam.

Class started in five minutes, and James Potter decided to throw all of Lily's silly rules out of the window. He'd knocked on her door, but she wasn't answering. Maybe she was sick…

"LILY?" he yelled. Finally he opened the door. She's going to kill me, James thought slowly. Lily was curled up in a ball in her blue pajama pants and black T-shirt, blankets astray. "Lily?" No response, "_Aguamenti_." He pointed his wand at her and she jumped up screeching. Then she noticed him and yelled again.

"POTTER!"

"Uh Evans—"

"Bloody hell! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? GET OUT!"

"Lily?"

"OUT!"

"CLASS STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES! YOU"RE LATE!" James bellowed back. Lily froze for a minute. Then…

"WHAT? Why the hell didn't you wake me up sooner Potter? Merlin…" Lily sprang up, running around her room franticly, "GET OUT!" James didn't need another telling, he scampered out, not wanting to face Lily's wrath. Two minutes later Lily came out holding her shoes.

"Damn it, Potter, look at me! My hair's wet!"

"Uh…you could just use a drying spell." Lily scowled. How stupid was she? She felt a blush appearing in her cheeks.

"I know that! You still shouldn't have poured water all over me! Sometimes I wonder what you're thinking…why didn't you wake me up sooner? I don't even have my schedule!" Lily yelled.

"I got it Evans," James said coolly.

"What?" Lily asked, taken aback.

"Here." Lily snatched it out of his hands and her eyes opened wide.

"Potions! Oh no…"

"You're Slughorn's favorite, don't worry, he won't give _you_ detention." Lily glared at him then disappeared coming back a moment later with her Potions supplies.

"Well, I'm not going to be late," Lily said and with that she ran out the door. She hadn't even made it down to the dungeons when the bell rang. Sprinting, she finally made it down before running smack into someone.

"Ow! Evans, watch it!"

"Potter!" Lily growled, "How'd you get here already? And why aren't you…in there!" she said pointing at the door beside him. James grinned.

"I decided to wait. You know, so you wouldn't be late alone."

"Like I want to be late with _you._"

"Now, Evans, as Head Girl—"

"Potter just move damnit! I need to get to class! It started a minute ago!"

"Let's just ditch…we can say I hexed you and I had to bring you to the Hospital Wing!" James said excitedly.

"POTTER MOVE!" the door opened revealing the stern face of Professor Slughorn.

"What is going on here? Miss Evans? Mr. Potter?"

"Professor!" Lily squeaked, "I—"

"Sorry, we're late sir. We took a bit of a detour." Slughorn gave James a disapproving look when he said this. Lily was about to argue, "Lily left her Potions book."

"I'm so sure," Slughorn said dryly, "That's detention Mr. Potter, tomorrow night."

"It was only once Professor—"

"No more discussion. Get on inside, we've already begun—"

"Well, Evans is joining me in detention too right?"

"I don't think…"

"Otherwise it'd be obvious favoritism as we both came late at the same time," James continued. Slughorn looked irritable.

"I suppose…"

"We should just do it together, after all we committed the same offense." Slughorn sighed.

"Yes…well…Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, see me after class. Now, we've already begun our notes, perhaps you can borrow from a friend."

Everyone watched the two walk in. Lily kept shooting James looks of hatred while he just smirked at her.

"Lily, where were you?" came Julie's whisper.

"I hate Potter," Lily muttered back.

"Why weren't you at breakfast?"

"Slept in."

"Why is that James' fault?" Gwen asked, louder then she should.

"Miss Springs, quiet please," Slughorn said, giving Gwen a disapproving look before returning to his lecture, "Now you can't pick the fluxweed until the full moon…" Lily pulled out a piece of parchment to begin her notes. Gwen frowned. Then she pulled out a piece of parchment, Lily thought for half a second she was going to take notes.

**So…what were you doing this morning? You didn't come down to breakfast.**.

Gwen had learned a spell that allowed each other's ink to appear on their own papers. Lily would've admired the charm work…if it hadn't been against the rules.

_I told you, I slept in. Stop sending me notes, I'm trying to pay attention._

**Right…so why were you with Potter?**

_I wasn't with him!_

**Hmm…so what do you call it when you two are found outside the hall together?**

_Shut up Gwen._

What are you guys talking about?

**Alice!**

_We're supposed to be paying attention…_

**We're talking about how Lily is having a secret affair with James Potter. **

Lily looked up at this and glared at Gwen who smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

Ooo.

_She's kidding Alice._

I know, but she has a point. What _were_ you doing with him?

_Nothing!_

We could hear the two of you bickering outside. The dungeon walls aren't that thick…

_Hmm…well he didn't wake me up when I slept in, and when he finally did, he poured water all over me. Then he took a short cut somehow and didn't tell me! So I was late! Oh, and Slughorn might give me detention thanks to Potter…_

Ah…I see, and how is it James' fault again?

**Yeah, after all, you slept in…you weren't doing something all night that you weren't supposed to be doing…right Lily?**

Alice let out a snigger beside her and Lily shook her head.

Uh…guys…Slughorn is glaring at us…particularly me…

_Great, I'm in enough trouble already._

Lily immediately ripped the particular piece of parchment and stuffed it in her bag. Slughorn didn't seem to have noticed. Lily ignored her laughing friends the rest of class. She was relieved when class ended.

"Julie, you were the only normal one during Potions today," Lily said with a sigh as she gathered her stuff.

"Uh…what? Sorry, I wasn't listening," Julie said, turing to her. Lily rolled her eyes and turned to her friend who looked slightly dazed. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Julie?"

"Mmhm?"

"Are you listening?" Julie turned her head and smiled. Lily couldn't help but notice that her gaze had been lingering on the Marauders. Fantastic. She really didn't need a friend obsessed with them. They were arrogant enough without another girl fanning over those stupid gits.

"Yeah…uh…sorry, I was distracted. What did you say?" Julie asked again. Lily sighed.

"Never mind. I need to stay after," said Lily, frowning deeply. Alice and Gwen started laughing, and Lily glared in their direction, "What is their problem?" she asked angrily. She did not find the situation as funny as those two.

"Oh, you know…Gwen had some more 'bonding' time with James. They're both like good friends now or something," Julie said shrugging. Lily was about to ask what she was talking about when she heard the voice behind her.

"Hey Evans." Lily sighed.

"I'll see you guys…Potter, don't even start to talk," Lily hissed under her breath as they approached Slughorn's desk, "Professor? You wanted to see us?"

"Yes…uh hem…let's see. Well, I have no idea what you two were doing before class that prevented you from arriving to class on time nor do I really want to know…"

"Professor—"

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, this'll be a warning…oh and ten points from Gryffindor. No detentions this afternoon." Lily nodded, muttering an apology before leaving. Unfortunately James followed her out of the classroom.

"I should be late more often with you…you get off so easily Evans. We only lost ten points…"

"Only? Potter! Urgh, see that's your stupid attitude problem again! We're not supposed to be losing points! You're Head Boy! I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking! He was crazy! Absolutely—"

"Evans, I get it. You don't think I can do it. Honestly, I'm not too excited for this either," James said loudly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"No I'm sure you've already plotted ways to abuse your power as Head Boy. That's—"

"Quit it will you? Why do you always assume the worst of me?" James asked crossly. Lily rolled her eyes. Why? Maybe because he always did the worst?

"Right…like you weren't thinking it…that is if you haven't already done it!"

"Well I have!"

"Yes—what?" Lily yelled.

"Exactly," James said smugly.

"POTTER!"

"James?"

"Prongs?"

"LILY!" Gwen ran straight into her. Lily groaned and picked herself up the floor, "There you are! I got stuck with…him!" said Gwen, pointing wildly.

"Where's Alice and Julie," Lily asked rubbing her sore elbow. Gwen shrugged, "Right….now who are you talking about…oh," Lily's eyes had fallen on Sirius Black who was standing there casually, smirking. He gave Gwen a large wink, and Gwen scowled.

"Can't stand him…" Lily suppressed a smirk. It was well known that Gwen couldn't stand Sirius Black, the arrogant school playboy. It was one reason why Lily and Gwen had gotten along so easily in the beginning…a simultaneous detest for the Marauders.

"Okay, let's go." Lily said quickly before either boy could notice they were gone. Gwen was talking about how she thought Alice was snogging Frank Longbottom.

"How do you know this again?" Lily asked, confused.

"Because—Alice! Julie!" Gwen broke off, grinning at her two friends who'd suddenly appeared.

"Hey," Julie said happily. Alice gave Gwen a suspicious look but didn't say anything.

"Where were you two?" Lily asked, grinning.

"Oh…you know…" they both gave each other looks and smiled. Gwen muttered something about everyone having a secret affair but her.

"On a brighter note, Quidditch is starting soon," Julie said trying not to laugh.

"You know, no one's having an affair…especially not me! I would never, not in a million years date that arrogant toerag. He's so—" Lily was cut off in mid rant.

"We know Lily," Alice interrupted tiredly, "It was a joke."

"Wait, how'd you know about Quidditch?" Gwen asked, "Did Potter say that?"

"No…uh…yes…uh…we're going to be late for Transfiguration!" Julie yelled and began to run down the hallway. Alice smirked while Gwen gave Lily a significant look.

"You're right…Potter is a player…he's doing both you and Julie."

"Oh shut up."

**A/N: I realize I forgot the disclaimer, so once again, no, I do NOT own Harry Potter (sigh) please review, I really want to know what you all think! Thanks.**


	3. Snogging Sessions, and Snape Troubles

**Disclaimer: This is all J.K. Rowling's… **

Chapter 3—Snogging Sessions, Secrets, and Snape Trouble

"Morning Lily," Julie said brightly. Lily smiled back.

"You seem the only one awake," Lily commented. Julie shrugged. Gwen was never a morning person, however, even Alice seemed half asleep as her head rested in her arms, "The school year's just started…how are they going to make it?" Lily asked, teasingly.

"You've been surviving," Alice noted, now lifting up her head, her brown hair hanging in her face, still slightly messy. Her eyes went down towards the Marauders, "I thought you and James would've killed each other by now." Lily shook her head.

"I forced him to promise not to ask me out yesterday…however I did have to give him and Black detention since they cursed the suits of armor to chase Malfoy around the dungeons." Julie chuckled and stopped as soon as Lily gave her a stern look.

"I mean…uh…that's horrible."

"Alice…get your bloody owl out of my breakfast!" Gwen yelled suddenly. Alice jerked up.

"Oops…sorry Gwen…my mum had to send me my extra box of quills and my Defense book…" Alice said taking her owl. Gwen rolled her eyes, now wide awake. Alice had always been a bit forgetful.

"So you didn't have it for class on Thursday?" Lily asked frowning.

"No…not like we used it." Alice said grinning. Lily turned to tell Julie something when she discovered she wasn't there.

"Where'd Julie go?" Gwen shrugged, now pouring a good amount of sugar on her cereal.

"Quidditch starts tomorrow," Gwen stated.

"That's not what I asked Gwen," Lily said in exasperation.

"I know, but it's a very interesting topic…I need to ask James about…"

"Julie's snogging in some broom closet…" Alice muttered under her breath.

"What?" Lily and Gwen cried in unison. Alice looked up fearfully.

"Damn…did I just say that out loud?"

"JULIE ANN MALONEY!" Gwen almost tackled her friend to the ground when they cornered her in the common room before Charms that morning.

"Merlin…gerroff me Gwen!" Julie said, pushing Gwen off. Gwen stood up and helped her friend up.

"Alright, spill Maloney, who is it?" Gwen demanded.

"Who?" Julie asked, a small frown appearing, "Who is what?"

"Who are you sneaking off with every moment of the day with Alice over here…?" Gwen stopped,

"Wait…if she's snogging, you're not with her…who are you with!" Alice frowned but wasn't able to hide her blush

"No one," she replied meekly.

"What?" Gwen asked, looking furious at her two friends, "I know you all are lying to me!"

"Alice!" Julie whined, glaring at her friend, "You swore you wouldn't!"

"Sorry!" Alice said, looking apologetic.

"What is going on?" Gwen bellowed. Lily smiled slightly, "Now, who is going to explain this to me?" Gwen demanded again. No one answered.

"We're going to be late for Charms," Julie said meekly. Gwen shook her head.

"Not until you confess! Who've you've been snogging?"

"Honestly! No one…I was…uh…studying." Lily frowned while Gwen shook her head.

"Oh…that explains a lot, you were 'studying'…with who?" Gwen insisted, using her 'air quotes'.

"Alice! You guys can come with us after lunch…" Julie suggested.

"Okay," Lily said brightly. Julie's smile faltered slightly. She'd obviously been hoping they'd back off.

"Okay then…we better go," Julie muttered. Gwen was about to argue when Lily interrupted.

"Gwen, we are not going to be late to class. I was already late once today," Lily reminded. Gwen muttered something about stupid Charms and they walked down. Alice and Julie were talking ahead of them.

"Wish I knew who they were out snogging…" Gwen muttered to Liy.

"Well Alice is obvious," Lily said looking at Julie. Why was she being so secretive?

"Yeah, Mr. Longbottom," Gwen said with a snigger. Then she frowned, "Now, who is Julie with?" Lily shrugged.

"It could be anyone…"

"As long as it's not bloody Black…I haven't dated any of her crushes have I?"

"No…and what's with you and Black?" A smirk played upon her face, "You want him off limits…for yourself maybe?" Gwen's jaw dropped.

"NO!"

"Oh…okay then…just making sure…"

"Shut up. You're probably out snogging Potter in your nice little Head room."

"Ew…don't even say that…it's making me feel sick." Gwen laughed then frowned.

"Right…he's not that bad actually and—"

"Gwen…"

"What? He even agreed not to ask you out as often!"

"Ever," Lily corrected.

"You think he'll keep that?" Gwen said smirking, "He's done good this past week though…hasn't he?" Lily didn't answer as they reached the Charms classroom. A thought had just struck her…what if Julie was with Potter? Is that why she was keeping it a secret? The thought kept popping up during Charms. Julie's constant looks towards the Marauders just confirmed her suspicions.

"It's him," Lily growled to Gwen. Gwen was about to question her when the bell rang, "I'll meet with you after class. I need to discuss something with our 'Head Boy'." Gwen looked unsure, but left as Lily neared the Marauders, "Potter." James' head snapped around, and he grinned when he saw Lily.

"Hey Evans."

"Potter, I need to talk to you…" her eyes fell on Sirius who was smirking at her, "Privately." Sirius took the cue and winked before walking off with Peter.

"Knew you couldn't resist me." Lily gave him a disgusted look. How did Julie like such a jerk? Sure he was good looking but really…wait, did she just say he was good looking? No. Mistake, you heard wrong, guaranteed.

"Shut it Potter, I just wanted to talk to you about Julie." James frowned.

"Julie?"

"Yes, I know," said Lily simply. James gave her a bewildered look.

"Know what?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"I swear if you try anything—"

"What are you talking about?" James interrupted.

"You two!"

"What about me…and Julie? She's not even playing Quidditch!"

"What?" Lily yelled back, "For once, get your mind off of the bloody sport! I'm talking about Julie…Julie…and YOU!"

"What about ME?" James bellowed.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No—"

"You two keep sneaking off!" James looked very confused.

"What the hell are you talking about Evans?" Lily felt confused now too. She had either gotten the wrong conclusion or Potter was one hell of an actor…

"You…and...Julie…aren't…" she trailed off, unsure.

"What?" James said impatiently. Another thought just struck her.

"Where was Remus at breakfast this morning?"

"What?"

"Where was—"

"I heard you…uh…I dunno. Why—"

"Oh Merlin…" James looked truly annoyed now, "Sorry James," Shoot, had she just called him James…how did that happen? "Uh…pretend I never yelled at you?" she suggested hopefully. James blinked.

"Are you going to explain?" he asked.

"No…"

"Lily!"

"What?" Lily asked, crossing her arms and giving him an annoyed look. Although, she had yelled at him for no reason...

"What does Remus have to do with this…and Julie?"

"They're sneaking off together…" Lily explained quickly, "Now, I just have to expose her…thought she could get past me! Ha…good try Julie…" Lily said more to herself then anyone else. She began to walk away, leaving James still very confused.

"Whoa…when did this happen? Lily, c'mon wait…" Lily stopped as James pulled her by the arm.

"What?"

"They're dating?"

"No…maybe…I haven't found out yet. First I'm going to spy on them then…"

"This is very un-Head Girl like Evans…I just might have to—"

"Potter, don't start."

"Then I'm in," he said quickly.

"No!" Lily was not about to spend time _willingly _with Potter.

"C'mon, I'm an expert! You on the other hand…have you even gotten detention before? You won't be able to do it without getting caught." Lily was about to argue when Gwen appeared at James' elbow.

"There you are! Lily…James…hey…" Gwen said happily. Lily could only manage a sigh.

"Fine…I'll talk to you about it later," Lily muttered to James. James grinned.

"Alright Evans…see you later. I'll try to—uh…make sure all the Prefects know," he adjusted quickly. Gwen gave him a suspicious look/

"Where's Black?" Gwen asked James. James shrugged.

"I was talking to Evans," he reminded. He nodded toward her.

"Of course…I heard you shouting earlier," Gwen smirked, "Okay…you can go back to your conversation."

"It wasn't important," Lily said quickly. Gwen narrowed her gaze muttering about secrets and snogging sessions as she stalked off. Lily began to laugh as Gwen disappeared.

"What?"

"Snogging…?" Lily said shaking her head, "Gwen's crazy." James raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno…that doesn't sound half bad…" Lily hit him in the arm.

"Don't start Potter. No more quips like that or you're off the case."

"You really are no fun," James pouted. Lily tried to ignore him, but it proved impossible. He even ended up sitting next to them at lunch, "Remus is missing." James whispered.

"So is Julie," Lily whispered back.

"What are they talking about?" Sirius asked frowning.

"They're having a secret affair," Gwen said, taking a piece of Shepherd's pie. Sirius gave her a blank look, "No they really are. Everyone is, Alice, Julie, Lily…I'm all alone." Sirius laughed at this, "Stuff it, Black."

"You said it not me," he reminded, still smirking.

"I don't want to hear you talking," Gwen said irritably.

"Yeah, well then why are you sitting next to me?"

"Because you sat next to me!" Gwen reminded.

"I couldn't help myself…did I mention you were looking lovely today?" he asked, winking at her. Gwen mimed gagging at him.

"One more word, and I'll stomp on your face," she replied sweetly after she was done miming.

"That's an interesting one…" he commented lightly.

"Look they're whispering again!" Gwen said, distracted. She pointed her fork in their direction. Sirius frowned, obviously thinking.

"They usually don't do that do they?" he said slowly.

"Nope."

"Yeah…they're usually yelling at each other while James tries to fit in a 'will you go to Hogsmade with me' in the sentence. Then more yelling…"

"Once in a while a couple hexes," Gwen added.

"Sometimes a slap," Sirius reminded. Gwen laughed, "You know, that's not funny. Lily slaps hard," Sirius pouted.

"Oh, you deserved that one Black," Lily interrupted their conversation, "I'm honored you still remember. Anyway, I need to go to the library. I'll see you around Gwen." Gwen nodded. As soon as Lily was gone, she turned to a happy looking James.

"So…James…what is going on between you and Lily?" James stopped smiling.

"What?"

"Lily…and you?"

"Nothing…yet," he added with his usual cocky grin.

"Oh…you were whispering."

"No we weren't."

"Yes you were! You and Lily have been snogging…or more…after all you do have those rooms all to yourself." Both Gwen and James glared at Sirius who grinned.

"Shut up, Padfoot. I guess I'll meet up with you later. I need to find Remus, I gotta ask him something…"

"Wait…Prongs!" James had already gotten up and left the Great Hall.

"Where'd everyone go?" Peter asked from the other side of Sirius. Sirius shook his head and looked to Gwen.

"Snogging Sessions," Gwen and Sirius said in unison.

"Ow…Potter, that was my foot!" Lily hissed as James trodded on her foot.

"Sorry…shh…there they are!" James whispered. They were both trying to peek from behind the bookshelves. Remus and Julie were sitting there…just talking.

"Maybe they really are studying…" Lily said frowning.

"Or maybe they know we're here, so it's a decoy!"

"James, shut up!" James grinned.

"Oh so it's James now?"

"No! I meant—"

"What are you two doing in the restricted section?" came a voice from behind the two of them. It was Madam Otum, a tall, vulture like woman that was bearing down on them beadily. She eyed James with certain dislike. It must've been when he attempted to set his Potions book on fire back in second year. She had banned him for the rest of the year after that incident. James hadn't come back after that.

"Just looking…" Lily said quickly.

"Yeah…our wands aren't out or anything Madam, we won't set anything alight…" James added in, trying to repress a snigger. That didn't help them out. Madam Otum narrowed her beady eyes and yelled at them.

"OUT!" Lily and James ran out from the bookcases where both Julie and Remus saw them, looking very confused.

"Uh…Lily?" Julie asked, staring at her friend.

"Prongs?" came Remus, souding equally confused.

"What are you guys doing?" Julie and Remus asked in unison. Lily glared at James.

"It was his idea."

"No it wasn't! You were the one that wanted to go spy!"

"Yes, but not like this…besides if you hadn't brought up the stupid fire incident—"

"It's not my fault she holds a grudge after five years—" James argued.

"Well you shouldn't—"

"What were you two doing back there?" Remus cut in. Lily looked at the sandy haired kid and made a huffing sound.

"Nothing," Lily replied, crossing her arms. Julie grinned.

"I think I have an idea," Remus said in a loud whisper. Julie giggled.

"Oh yes…I think that type of behavior is inappropriate for the Head Boy and Girl…"

"Julie, shut up…and no Remus, Potter has not gotten lucky in any way. We were spying on you two! We wanted to know what you were really doing when you snuck off…" Lily's voice faltered slightly.

"Studying?" Remus asked slyly. Julie was turning slightly pink.

"Yes…but is that all either of you want to do?" James asked smirking. Remus glared at his friend while Julie began looking uncomfortable.

"Prongs…don't be stupid…" Remus began.

"Er…I just remembered something…I got to go," said Julie quickly. She grabbed her bag, leaving her books behind and shot out. James looked at the door, to Remus then to Lily.

"What was her problem?" James asked, oblivious to Lily rolling her eyes.

The rest of the day was full of Lily badgering Julie on what was going on between her and Remus. It ended with Julie yelling at her leaving Lily in a bad tempered mood. It worsened when she found none other than Potter and Black fighting with Snape.

"POTTER! QUIT IT THIS INSTANT!" Lily bellowed. All three boys paused and stared at her.

"Evans, wanna join the party?" Sirius asked grinning. James grinned as well while Snape was able to reach his wand. James hexed him before he could utter anything.

"Snivellus, it isn't kind to hex someone when they aren't looking—"

"POTTER STOP RIGHT NOW! THAT"S DETENTION! BOTH OF YOU!" Lily yelled again. James stopped causing Snape to spit out green goo. Sirius was laughing.

"Fine, Lily Evans, you have detention for causing excess amount of noise in the corridor." James said smugly. Sirius began to crack up in laughter again.

"I do not! You can't do that! That's abusing your—"

"What is going on here?" came the stern voice of Professor McGonagall.

"Nothing—" Sirius began.

"They were hexing Serveus—" Lily cut in.

"He started it—" James argued/

"—she gave us detention—" Sirius continued.

"—Snivellus didn't get anything!" James finished for him.

"Potter gave me detention for giving him detention!" Lily yelled over both of them shrilly. Professor McGonagall stared at them for a moment before speaking.

"Mr. Snape, to the Hospital Wing if you need it. Mr. Black to your dormitory this instant—I don't care if you don't want to. _Go_." Sirius didn't argue. He gave James a look before tearing off, "Now…Mr. Potter, Miss Evans…our Head Boy and Girl…" she paused, looking over her spectacles at them, "I didn't expect this from you Miss Evans, and Mr. Potter, I would've thought that you'd have grown out of such childish things." Lily felt like adding in a comment there but held her tongue, "Since you both have detentions, you may serve them together…tonight."

"What?" Lily exclaimed, "I still have detention? I didn't do anything!"

"Miss Evans, please, keep your voice _down_."

"Told you—" James started.

"Mr. Potter."

"Sorry Professor."

"Professor, I don't think I can serve it with him," Lily explained while shooting James a dirty look. James just smirked and crossed his arms. McGonagall sighed.

"You're going to. You two will learn to work together. Meet in my office in half an hour." Professor McGonagall gave them a stern look before turning down the corridor. Once she was out of sight, the angry redhead turned to face James.

"Potter…you do realize this is the first detention I've ever received!"

"Really? Merlin Evans…do you even have a life?"

"I'm going to kill you—"

"Don't think that'd be the best idea. McGonagall won't be too happy if I'm in the Hospital Wing because of you. We're supposed to be getting along." He smirked at the last part.

"Yeah…when Hell freezes over." Lily snapped before storming off in the other direction. James sighed…how did he always manage to make her so angry?

**A/N: So, what did you think? Please leave a review. Hate it or love it? That's right...REVIEWS! thanks! -SiriuslyObsessed**

*****Okay, this is for everyone who just started reading this story- this story was started before the seventh book, so i don't have the whole Snape and Lily friendship incorporated in this story, just so everyone knows because there is more of Snape in later chapters. thanks.**


	4. Enemies & New Friends

**Disclaimer: If I owned this, would I really be writing fan fiction? Exactly.**

Chapter 4—Enemies & New Friends

"Potter, if you talk to me, I'll hex you."

"No you won't, McGonagall took our wands away."

"Potter," Lily growled.

"Besides, you wouldn't want to hex me…"

"Wanna bet?" Lily threatened, her eyes narrowed at him. James just smirked. If anything, this infurriated Lily more, "Urgh! Sometimes I can't believe you! Look at the trouble you get me in! McGonagall's right, we're Heads, we're not supposed to be in detention! I shouldn't even be here! I didn't do anything!" Lily's voice was steadily rising.

"Yes, _you_ were shouting. That's a distraction to students who are trying to learn. Okay?" James said, smirking at her.

"You are such a prat."

"You're beautiful."

"I'm going to kill you…" Lily began her threats again.

"Want to go to Hogsmade?" James asked, his cocky grin back on his face. Gwen had been right. His so called 'Promise' lasted one day.

"POTTER!" Lily had jumped on him and was now hitting him with the mop that she had been cleaning McGonagall's office with.

"Ow…gerroff…bloody hell…what's wrong with you? Are you a bloody lunatic…damn…" James nursed his arm where she'd whacked him.

"Don't talk to me."

"I get it. Shit…" James cursed, examining his arm.

"You're still talking," said Lily irritably.

"I can talk if I want."

"No, because you're supposed to be organizing those papers and you've done maybe …NONE!" Lily yelled. James rolled his eyes.

"I never do my detentions, but you're such a goody goody you'd do it anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means—"

"Potter!" McGonagall's head had snapped inside, "I heard yelling…Miss Evans?"

"Sorry Professor," she glared at James. McGonagall eyed the bucket that seemed to have knocked over. Lily hadn't notice it before. Whoops. McGonagall sighed.

"You two are dismissed. No more fighting in the halls? Otherwise it'll be a weeks worth…though I may have to make them separate…I would like an office after all…" she added as she eyed the mess they'd made. Lily felt herself redden.

"Professor—"

"Evans, just drop it," James said, rolling his eyes. Lily glared at him.

"Sorry Professor," Lily said meekly. Once they were out of the room Lily shoved him.

"Idiot!" she hissed.

"Me?"

"Yes," Lily said as calmly as possible. James bit his tongue. He was not going to fight with the irritating redhead…no he wasn't.

The walk to their common room was a tense silence. Lily preferred it that way. By the time they were in the common room, Lily found her temper had cooled quite a bit.

"I have homework to do, please…don't be annoying. Just for tonight." she asked. James only rolled his eyes.

"I'm annoying?"

"Yes," said Lily as she pulled out her Charms essay.

"I am not," he argued.

"We're not fighting right now…remember?"

"Why?"

"Because…I need to focus," Lily snapped.

"Oh," Then, surprisingly, James didn't say anther word. Ten minutes went by and Lily hadn't gotten past the first sentence. For some reason she couldn't think clearly, "You're not getting very far," James pointed out after a good, long stretch of silence.

"Oh and you are?" Lily snapped.

"I haven't started."

"Exactly."

"Evans…you know you're not making any sense."

At this, Lily through her quill down, "Fine. I quit!" Lily sat back in the armchair, her anger coming back again. She crossed her arms, glaring at no one in particular.

"Uh...alright." There was silence for a while. Lily just watched the fire…it was hurting her eyes however so averting her eyes she found herself looking at James.

"Potter?" James turned his head, "Uh…sorry I hit you with the mop," Lily muttered. Wait, had she just apologized? To...Potter? James grinned.

"Yeah…I got a bit of bruise," he said, pointing to it on his arm.

"Sorry," Lily said again, feeling gulity. James shrugged.

"I guess I had it coming."

"Yeah…you did, still…I'm supposed to be the mature one." Lily insisted. James raised an eyebrow, "I am. You're the one that pulls pranks…hexes Slytherins…you know. I keep the order. That's how it always is."

"Don't you get bored?"

"Bored?" Lily questioned.

"Yeah," said James again, "bored."

"Of what?"

"Following the rules…rules can be so…boring." Lily rolled her eyes, "Hey, I'm being honest."

"Yeah…no. It's not boring. Contrary to your belief some people have fun despite the fact that they don't break the rules." James just shrugged and let out a yawn.

"If you say so."

"I do." James smiled.

"Of course."

"I guess we better get along…otherwise this'll be a long year," Lily said stiffly. James raised an eyebrow, "Plus, McGonagall will have our heads. That means no asking me out…that awkward stuff, no hexing people just because you feel like it, and less pranks. I'll…I'll try to be less uptight and…erm…Head Girlish…when you're around." James nodded.

"Okay. We could try it. _Lily_."

"First name basis?"

"Yes…we sound friendlier. Don't you think?"

"I suppose…_James_." They both grinned.

"It sounds weird."

"Yeah…I don't think I've called you James since first year. That was before you poured the pumpkin juice down my shirt of course…"

"Oh yeah…I forgot about that," James said fondly. Lily snorted.

"Oh yes…what a cute eleven year old you were," Lily said sardonically.

"What can I say? Even then the girls couldn't get enough."

"Oh right."

"They just love my charming personality, my obvious good looks, and—"

"You are such a cocky, arrogant prat," Lily said laughing. James just grinned. It sounded so much better when she wasn't yelling. Odd enough, they didn't end up going to bed for another two hours…they just talked for a while until Lily yawned.

"Oh…it's midnight! Merlin…I'm going to bed. Goodnight Po—James," she corrected herself hastily.

"'Night Lily." They both went into their respective rooms, thinking about what a turn of events the night had brought.

Breakfast brought back painful memories. So far, Hogwarts had gone fine. No questions asked, no answers had to be given.

"This is horrible," Alice said sadly.

"What?" Julie asked curiously straining to see the Daily Prophet. Lily was watching the Marauders walk in. James caught her eye and gave her a small wave. Lily smiled.

"Ah ha!" Lily looked at Gwen.

"You're awake."

"James just waved to you…and you didn't glare!"

"Yeah…after we were put in detention, we decided to act civil to each other. After all…I'm practically living with him." Gwen smirked.

"How's that going?"

"Alright…it's not like we have sleepovers," Lily said grinning.

"…I read about him in the papers this summer too. The Ministry hasn't been able to catch him…"

"What are you guys reading?" Gwen asked curiously. Lily chuckled. Gwen was oddly awake for this time in the morning.

"Daily Prophet," Julie said tossing it on the table, "Uh…Lily?" Lily glanced up, "Sorry."

"For what?" Lily asked frowning.

"Uh…yelling at you…yesterday," Julie muttered, looking abashed.

"Oh right," she'd forgotten, "It wasn't a big deal, I was being annoying." Then Lily grinned, "Unless you want to tell me what you really feel about Remus…"

"Shh," Julie hissed glancing down the table.

"Lord Voldemort?" Gwen's voice caught Lily's attention. Lily turned and looked at Gwen who was frowning at the article, "Right…my parents were talking about him this summer…I guess they had some trouble catching him at the Ministry." Lord Voldemort. It was him…the wizard that had murdered her parents…the murder she hadn't prevented. Lily felt very sick all of a sudden. She pushed away her porridge slightly, unsure if she could look at it let alone eat it.

"Could I look at that?" Lily asked weakly. Gwen nodded.

"He's crazy…the way he's against muggles and all…they'll catch him soon enough…" Lily drew in a breath when she saw the symbol on the page…she remembered it was the Mark…something …Dark Mark. That's what it was. Gwen was going on about how stupid it was still…didn't she get it? People were dying. Families, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers…

"It's not stupid Gwen," Lily snapped suddenly. In this articles five muggles and a aurour had been killed, "Innocent people are getting killed. It's serious." Gwen bit her lip. She'd forgotten Lily's parents were muggles.

"Right…sorry Lils, I mean, it's not like this won't be stopped soon. That's all I'm saying." Lily felt as if she were going to cry.

"Uh…I have a letter to write," Lily lied quickly. She jumped up and brought the Prophet with her. Gwen looked back at her two friends uncertainly.

"Lily just worries too much for her own good…right?" Gwen said out loud, more for herself then anyone else. Julie and Alice just shrugged before going back to their breakfast.

"Lily?" Gwen approached her tentatively in the hallway. Lily smiled brightly, surprising Gwen.

"Hey…ready for Defense? I already did the essay on Patronous…" Lily rambled.

"Of course you did," Julie muttered. Gwen gave her a look.

"Are you alright Lily? You seemed a bit upset at breakfast." Gwen asked with concern. Lily gave Gwen a funny look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lily said mildly as she searched through her bag for an extra quill.

"The Prophet? Did you…uh…write to your parents?" Gwen asked, still obviously concerned by her friend's initial reaction.

"I'm fine Gwen," Lily insisted, ignoring her question.

"But…"

"Gwen…when does Quidditch start?" Alice intervened. She knew Lily didn't want to talk about it oddly enough.

"Tomorrow. Potter had to switch practice…he had Head Duties," Gwen glanced at Lily when she said this.

"Oh right…I forgot I have to do that. Glad I finished Potions…still need to finish Charms. I can do that after lunch though…"

"Wonderful, as much as we love to hear about your study schedule Lily…"

"…we're going to be late for Defense!" Julie finished. Lily and Alice rolled their eyes as Julie and Gwen took off but followed after them.

Gwen had ditched her to go out on the Quidditch pitch. Alice was with Frank while Julie was off somewhere (most likely Remus) although she still did not get confirmation on that subject. That left Lily doing homework in the library on a Friday afternoon.

"Lily?" Lily set down her quill and found herself looking up at a Ravenclaw in her grade, Jordan Harris.

"Oh, hey Jordan." He was a tall one. Over six feet, he was the Ravenclaw Keeper, not horrible but not the best. In other words, James was better. Sure, Harris was decent but he was nothing compared to James…wait, what? Well, she was just stating the facts. James happened to be very good at Quidditch. Never mind, back to Jordan. He was smart, with soft chocolate brown eyes and brown hair that swept in his eyes sometimes. Okay…so Lily might have had a crush on him in fifth year.

"Homework?"

"Yeah…I have Head Duties tonight…I didn't want to leave everything until the last minute," Lily explained, smiling at him.

"Right," he said with a nod.

"What are you doing?"

"I was going to do the same…if you don't mind that I join you?" Jordan asked, smiling his brilliant smile at her. Lily smiled and shook her head.

"Of course not…I was getting lonely anyway. There's usually someone I drag in here…" Jordan smiled. The next two hours of homework weren't as lonely as she had thought they were going to be.

September seemed to pass quickly into October. Homework seemed to be pilling up on the students, and Alice and Frank were now an 'item'. Lily was of course doing homework with Remus when they began talking about the upcoming Hogsmade trip.

"Yeah, I miss it. It's been a whole year," Lily said fondly.

"I know…are you going to go with anyone?" Remus asked. Lily replied with a shrug.

"No," Then she gave Remus a curious look, "Who were you planning on asking." Remus turned slightly red and muttered about not knowing, "Remus! Who are you asking? Who do you like?"

"I never said I was going to ask anyone—"

"Is it Julie?" Remus turned a darker shade of red. Lily smirked, "It is! Oh…you have to ask her! She definitely likes you Remus! You should go right now—"

"Lily!"

"C'mon Remus! You both like each other!"

"Did she say that?" Remus asked still sounding unsure.

"Of course!" Lily lied. Julie refused to talk about the issue, but Lily knew why. She spent the rest of the evening abandoning her Transfiguration homework in order to convince Remus who finally agreed to ask her that week.

"Good," Lily said simply.

"Happy?" Remus asked, frowning deeply.

"Yep."

"Homework done?" he asked, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Uh…" Remus laughed.

"The library's closing Lily…you don't have time now." Remus shook his head.

"Hey, I did it for you!"

"Not Julie?"

"For both of you! See what a good friend I am? Now I'm going to be up all night doing Transfiguration! I'll see you Remus!" Lily called after him. She headed back to her own dormitory when she heard the voice of Sirius Black. Why was he still here?

"...I can't believe you did that Padfoot! You're lucky all she did was hit the Bludger at you!"

"I dunno..."

"She hates you mate!"

"That never stopped you from asking out Evans?" Lily shrank back at the sound of her name. James shrugged.

"True."

"Anyway…unlike you…she never said no," came the smug voice of Sirius.

"Padfoot…"

"So I'm going to take it as a yes."

"That's not going to work. I know Gwen, she's going to kill you."

"Yeah…how come you and Gwen got so buddy buddy?"

"Sworn to secrecy Padfoot."

"Wait…what?" Lily tried to move behind the suit of armor. She had to hear this one. It didn't work. Lily lost her balance and fell, the armor coming down with her. A loud clang filled the corridor and Lily looked up to see the confused stares of James and Sirius.

"Evans?"

"Lily?"

"Hey Sirius, hi James," Lily said grinning up casually, "Some help?" Sirius pulled her up.

"How much did you hear?" Sirius asked, smirking at her slightly.

"Um…that you asked Gwen out…and I'm guessing you she gave you that shiner?" Sirius scowled, "If I can say so myself, I think hitting you with a Bludger is a definite a no. She's hated you for…almost as long as I…uh…"

"Hated me?" James volunteered.

"Hate…it's a strong word…more like…"

"Passionate dislike?" suggested Sirius.

"Besides, she didn't always hate Padfoot," James through in.

"Now you're defending him?" Lily asked turning to James.

"Yes."

"Why? Just because you two can't stand—"

"Lily, will you quit arguing?" Sirius asked rolling his eyes, "I thought you were mature."

"Oh and you are?" Lily snapped.

"Sirius…you've already been beat up by one girl today…" James said, smirking at him. Sirius scowled at his friend, "I'm just saying…you really should—"

"Lily, just don't say anything…not yet, please?" Sirius begged her. Lily was taken aback.

"Uh…okay…I guess, but I'm not going to lie to her if she asks me something." Sirius frowned but then nodded.

"Fair enough. It's a deal." Sirius spat in his hand and stuck it out. Lily looked at him strangely.

"I hope you don't expect me to shake that Black."

**A/N: Sorry, pretty short chapter but it's here. Reviews are always welcome! :)  
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	5. Finding a Date

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is awesome. I, however, am not. **

Chapter 5—Finding a Date

"LILY!" Lily paused in the hallway where Julie almost ran her over, "Thank you!" Julie cried, flinging her arms around her friend. After Lily pulled her away, she frowned.

"Your welcome, but er—for what?" Lily asked slightly confused. A portrait of a stout man was yelling some curse words at Julie for her yelling. Apparently, it had been sleeping. Julie grinned.

"You talked to Remus didn't you?" Julie asked, her grin widening.

"Oh what? Yeah…" Lily said, nodding, remembering the night in the library.

"He asked me out! We're going to Hogsmeade!" Julie said happily. She took a breath and seemed to call down a bit, "Anyway, I thought you ought to be the first to know."

"I'm honored," Lily said, smirking at her friend. Julie rolled her eyes.

"Good, you should be," said Julie. Lily stuck out her tongue while Julie just gave another roll of her eyes, "Right…well, Gwen was looking for you, I…er…need to go ask Remus something," Julie said quickly. Without another word she was off. Lily smiled to herself. She was a damn good friend. They'd better do the same for her.

"…and then, the stupid git…he tried to ask me out!" Gwen yelled loudly in the common room fifteen minutes later.

"What did you say?" Lily asked dully, already knowing the answer. How many times would she tell this story?

"No! Well…actually…I didn't say it, but he knew it. I hit him in the head with a Bludger."

"Oh…well…this is Sirius Black, remember. He doesn't take no for an answer…he's a bit like Potter. If you didn't say 'no' exactly…" Lily trailed off, remembering what Black had said to James. That might be problematic.

"What? You think he's still going to ask me out after that?" her voice sounded oddly high pitched.

"Don't worry, he might not…but then again, don't get your hopes up."

"Oh…well…he doesn't even like me, though," Gwen said, sounding very sour.

"Why do you say that?" Lily asked while looking up what else was needed for a Vertisusum Potion.

"It's Sirius Black…c'mon Lily, has he liked any of the girls he's gone out with?" Gwen snapped. Lily couldn't help but noticed she sounded bitter, "Besides, I'm not some dumb blonde that will just date him because he's hot…or plays Quidditch or…"

"You like him!" Lily said suddenly, putting down her Potions book. Gwen + Sirius...when did this happen?

"If like has become a synonym for hate, then yes…maybe I do," Gwen replied coolly.

"Right," Lily said, not throughly convinced.

"What? Do you honestly think I'd like him? Think Lily…I've loathed him as long as you've detested James…"

"Whom I don't hate any longer," Lily reminded. Gwen smirked.

"I know…you two have been getting close," Gwen teased.

"Ew…no, we just aren't fighting…it's a nice change. We sometimes have these things…" Lily's voice fell to a whisper, "Called civil conversations." Gwen gasped.

"No…not that!"

"Yes," Lily nodded solemnly.

"Hey guys what's up?" Julie said happily plopping beside them. Lily smirked.

"I believe Gwen fancies someone."

"Lily…don't…" Gwen began.

"You do don't you?" Lily insisted.

"No! Quit it! I do not! I hate him!" Gwen yelled the last bit rather loudly in protest.

"Hate?" Julie asked curiously.

"Yes, hate, loathe, detest, despise, scorn—"

"I get it," Julie interrupted, "Are we talking about Sirius?" Lily nodded, "Lily, you think she likes him?" Julie asked confused, "Uh…I don't know if that's possible."

"Potter and I became…uh…mutual…" Lily said, frowning as she said it.

"Yes, but you're not in love with each other," Gwen snapped.

"Potter might be a different story," Julie added with a smirk. Lily rolled her eyes.

"So…maybe Sirius really does have feelings for you. Would that have changed your answer…the one you didn't actually give," Lily prodded again.

"Lily…he knows! I don't even have to worry about it. He's probably asking someone else right now…" Gwen said, looking depressed.

"Gwen!" Gwen snapped her head around and scowled. Sirius Black had just entered the portrait hole, "A word?" he asked. Gwen shook her head, "C'mon…you owe me one…my eye's still healing," he gave her a sad look and Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Fine! I'll be right back," Gwen added to Lily, scowling. Lily watched her friend get up and walk over calling him an arrogant git as she walked past him. They disappeared. Lily looked at Julie who was frowning.

"So…" Julie said, looking at Lily.

"So?"

"What do you think?" Julie said in exasperation.

"About them?" Lily asked.

"Yeah…think she'll say yes?" Julie shrugged.

"It depends," came a new voice. Julie and Lily turned to see Alice hanging over their shoulders, "Remember, I dated Sirius once…perhaps…a good chance if he kisses her…he's a damn good kisser." Then she smiled slyly, "Frank is better."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lily asked. Julie laughed.

"Is he really?" Julie said, smirking.

"I think so…but then, he was so different then Sirius….he's so—"

"Please no details," Lily interrupted, holding out her hand. Alice pouted.

"Aw, but Gwen didn't mind when I told her."

"That's Gwen," Julie reminded. Alice sighed and pulled out her Charms essay.

"Lily, wanna look at this for me? I actually did it this time though…"

"Fine, Alice, I'll look at it in a minute, I just need finish Potions." The three waited for another ten minutes when Julie surprisingly lost her patience.

"She's snogging him in some broom cupboard isn't she Alice?" Julie asked, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"Probably."

"Urgh! I hate Sirius Black….blah blah blah…" Julie mimicked, shaking her head.

"She was in denial," Lily agreed. Then she frowned suddenly, "I suppose this means I'm the only one without a date this Hogsmade. Oh…it doesn't help when two of you are dating the Marauders."

"I was going to take James, but I decided to leave him for you," Alice said helpfully. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Thanks…"

"Maybe…" Julie began, looking thoughtful.

"Julie," Lily said, with a warning tone.

"What?" Julie asked innocently.

"Don't even start."

"I'm not starting anything…oh look pudding!" Julie cried out. Lily gave her friend a funny look.

"What?"

"It's a distraction technique," Julie explained.

"Oh…okay…but why pudding?" Lily asked, still confused.

"Because everyone loves pudding."

"Not if it's vanilla," Alice piped in, "Vanilla pudding is gross."

"No it's not!" Lily exclaimed. Julie shook her head. It worked like a charm.

"Potter, you're late," Lily snapped as she took a look at her wristwatch.

"Sorry…it wasn't my fault Sirius and Gwen couldn't pay attention during practice…I can't believe the two of them were going out...well, at least on a date. I mean, over the summer she wasn't too anxious to be within a ten foot broomstick with him…I didn't know she still liked him."

"She liked him then?" Lily asked curiously, "How do you know?" Lily demanded feeling slightly left out. Gwen told Potter? She hadn't even told her yet…and Lily was supposed to be her best friend…

"Oh…whoops…I wasn't supposed to say that," James said hitting his palm against his head, "Damn, don't tell her you know, okay? Anyway, she liked him and didn't want to. She forced herself into denial, claiming she didn't like him, blah blah blah. I knew otherwise." He grinned at Lily who just scowled.

"I kinda forced her into telling me the truth during after a Quidditch thing. I dunno…she for some reason trusted me. I think she finally realized I'm a decent guy." Lily snorted, "What? Is it that surprising?" James asked, looking offended.

"Yes…no…not really. I can't believe she didn't tell me…instead she told you! I suppose you would keep a secret…while holding it as blackmail over their head." James chuckled.

"Not quite…" Lily laughed.

"Sorry if I don't quite believe that. Remember in fourth year you threatened to tell everyone I fancied that Hufflepfuff kid, Adam, if I didn't go on a date with you?" Lily asked. James grinned at the memory, "Or fifth year when you found out that I lied to McGonagall about why I was really in the Astronomy Tower…or—"

"I get it, so you're an exception," James agreed. Lily raised an eyebrow, "Hey…I couldn't help it. I was blinded by your beauty."

Lily laughed, "Oh right," she said, unable to hide her smile. James grinned.

"Well, should we start patrolling? It's almost eleven already," he said, looking happy.

"Okay, we can cut it short tonight…since you were tardy," Lily said, frowning, remembering that he was late. For some reason saying 'tardy' set James off into a long story about a broomstick in the Leaky Caldron and ended with Sirius breaking two of his ribs. Lily was amid herself in laughter by the end.

"You two are crazy…" Lily said, shaking her head.

"In a good way?" James asked hopefully. Lily looked thoughtful.

"Maybe…" James grinned, "So…does Sirius stay with you a lot in the summer?"

"Yeah…he moved in with us last summer."

"Really? Why?" asked Lily. James looked a bit uncomfortable. Lily half wished she hadn't asked it now.

"His family…they aren't the best. You know, they're kinda…dark wizards. My parents love Sirius though. He's like the brother I never had." James smiled.

"You're parents sound like nice people James." said Lily as she thought of her own family. It was painful to think about. Why did she do this to herself?

"They are…what about your family?" asked James, "You never say anything about them."

"Uh…I have a sister," said Lily, shifting uncomfortably.

"Hmm…she's a muggle then right?" He asked. Lily nodded.

"Petunia, she's definitely a muggle. She hates anything to do with the wizarding world…she's actually quite frightened of it." Not that I blame her, Lily thought.

"She's scared of you?"

"No…but she doesn't like me very much," Lily said honestly.

"Why?" James asked surprised.

"Oh…you know…" By the look on his face he didn't.

"We just don't get along Potter," Lily snapped suddenly.

"Sorry," he said quietly. _Oh go ahead, try to make me feel guilty. It's not like it was any of your business_.

"It's okay," Lily found herself saying, "I don't really know. It's been odd since first year. I think she's always been jealous of me…being a witch and all. This summer it just escalated." Lily said quietly. James just nodded. An awkward silence passed over, making Lily fidget uneasily. Thankfully James decided to switch the subject to their Potions essay.

Nice.

"Gwen, scoot!" Julie yelled pushing the blonde off the armchair.

"HEY!" Gwen shouted. Alice laughed. Lily gave them all a glare. They were too happy for their own good.

"SHUT UP!" Lily yelled. Her three friends looked at her, "Some people are trying to work!"

"Transfiguration?" Sirius asked sympathetically.

"When did you get here?" Lily snapped at the sudden appearance of Sirius.

"Someone's in a bad mood," he observed.

"Someone's being annoying," Lily snapped in return. Sirius shrugged.

"Aw, Sirius, leave her alone, she's studying," Gwen yelled from the floor, "Actually, let's go. It's too stuffy in here anyway." Sirius grinned at the suggestion.

"I like the sound of that," he said, a smirk plastered to his face.

"Of course you do, I suggested it," said Gwen. Then the two of them walked out without another word to anyone.

"Are they going out?" came the voice of Michelle Shepherd. She was tall with blonde hair, like a supermodel, with big brown eyes. She wasn't the nicest person to be around. Let's just say she didn't have both beauty _and brains_, "I mean, Sirius doesn't have many standards…but I thought even he…"

"No, they're not!" Lily cut in angrily, "He asked her out to Hogsmeade, and now they're going as friends. In other words, she isn't a pathetic bimbo like you that would do it with anyone!"

Julie and Alice stared at Lily in amazement before she stormed out.

"Well…someone isn't in the best of moods," Alice commented while Michelle looked shocked. Julie nodded in agreement, wondering what had gotten into their friend.

The redhead was going to the library. Hopefully she could concentrate in there. She hadn't been paying much attention when she ran straight into someone solid.

"Oh…sorry," Lily said quickly tying to pick up herself.

"Oh…hey Lily."

Lily looked up to see Jordan Harris giving her a hand, "Thanks…sorry Jordan…I'm just…uh…distracted today," she explained quickly. He smiled.

"That's okay," he assured her. Lily smiled back.

"How are you?"

"Not too bad…I've got Quidditch practice actually…" he began.

"Sorry!" Lily said quickly, "Do you have to go?"

"Unfortunately…" he said, giving her a small smile.

"Well, I'll see you later Jordan!" Lily called as she turned to leave.

"Lily?" he said to her back. Lily stopped to see Jordan looking slightly nervous, "I was wondering…er...would...do you want to go to Hogsmeade next weekend?" he said the last part rather fast, and Lily found herself blushing slightly.

"Oh…" Hogsmeade? Well…she was going to by herself…, "Sure." Jordan grinned happily at her response.

"Cool…I'll talk to you tomorrow Lily!" he called, waving at her before disappearing down the corridor.

"Bye Jordan." Lily said grinning herself. Well, no longer was she dateless.

"She didn't tell me she had a date," James said sulkily. Sirius gave his friend a sympathetic look.

"Well…she does. Jordan Harris," Sirius wrinkled his nose, "He's not even all that good looking. I mean, Prongs, you're better then Harris any day."

"Then how did he manage to get a date with her when I've been trying for two years?" Sirius opened his mouth then closed it, obviously thinking.

"Good question mate…girls are crazy. I guess Gwen and I aren't dating," Sirius said suddenly gloomy, "We're 'friends'." James gave a weak smile.

"I know how that feels," said James, shaking his head.

"Yeah…how are the hottest guys in school having girl problems?" Sirius questioned out loud.

"It must be that attitude," Remus said without looking up from his book.

"Shut it Moony."

"Yeah, go snog Julie," James threw in.

"I don't have a date either," Peter said gloomily, "McGonagall gave me detention."

"Ah…tough luck Wormtail…we can go to Hogsmade whenever though." Peter nodded, "I know, but I wanted to go to Zonko's. I need a new thing of dungbombs. I used the last five in the Slytherin dungeons," he explained. James chuckled then began to broad again.

"Jordan Harris…I thought Lily didn't Quidditch players. She always said she hated Quidditch—"

"Prongs, she only hated when you showed off about it. She doesn't hate the sport however she has a life outside of it—" Remus attempted to explain. Sirius cut into Remus' lecture.

"To study?" Sirius asked sarcastically. James laughed while Remus rolled his eyes.

"Quidditch _is_ time consuming," Peter said in Remus' defense. James and Sirius looked at him as if he had gone insane, "In the good sort of way," he added quickly.

"Right…perfect…" James said, sinking lower in his armchair.

"Prongs, don't do anything to…uh…make her too upset…" Remus said tentatively. James ignored Remus and stood up.

"I've got to…er…do Head stuff…" he said distractedly.

"Prongs…" James didn't listen to whatever Sirius had to say and instead walked out the door. He had intended on looking for Lily, but he couldn't find her. Instead he headed back to the Gryffindor common room where the rest of the Marauders were still lounging around.

"Hi James!" came a familiar voice. James tried not to cringe.

"Hey Michelle," James said tiredly as the blonde girl giggled.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh…I was looking for Lily, you haven't seen her, have you?" the smile evaporated slightly off her face.

"No…you were going to ask her to Hogsmade, huh?"

"Not exactly…" Michelle gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really…well…she has a date anyway," Michelle snipped, "That's what I heard. I don't know who…but, I guess I'm going _alone_." She let out a long sigh.

"Yeah me too," James said frowning. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Lily was supposed to be going with him. It was their seventh year…this wasn't how it was supposed to turn out.

"Uh…James?"

"Yeah?" James asked, blinking at her. Had she been talking?

"What do you think?" she said, staring at him.

"Erm…about what?" asked James. Michelle looked slightly miffed.

"Hogsmade? If you don't have a date…" she trailed off and smiled sweetly.

"Oh…er…right. Sure, why not," James said without thinking. Michelle grinned.

"Fantastic," then she leant forward and kissed him lightly. However, James was barely registering this. He was thinking about the Head Girl.

**A/N: I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter, but I submitted it anyway. So I'll makes sure the next one is better. Review please! Toodles!**


	6. Halloween & Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: You know the drill...blah blah blah, on with the story...**

Chapter 6— Halloween & Hogsmeade

Halloween started with a blast…literally. The Marauders had set off fireworks that somehow exploded in each dormitory at seven the next morning. That was nothing however to breakfast where the Marauders prank had continued. Lily had to dodge the suits of armor that were bewitched to send off water balloons, it didn't help that Peeves had jumped in to help…she was going to kill him!

"POTTER!" Lily yelled. She was wet, as she hadn't managed to dodge all of the balloons, "I know it was you!" she hissed as she sat across from him in the Great Hall. James smirked lightly then turned to Remus.

"Pass the marmalade Moony." He said, ignoring Lily's outburst.

"Mmhm…magic word?" Remus asked not glancing up from the Prophet.

"Please." James mocked, Remus passed it over wordlessly while Lily tried glaring James down, but he was hardly paying any attention.

"James! Just admit to it! You did this, even though you're Head Boy, and if you have anything else planned you better—" James however got up and left in the middle of her lecture. Lily was speechless.

"Uh…Evans?" Sirius said meekly.

"What?" Lily snapped, suddenly in a sour mood.

"You know you're still wet, right?"

"Shut up Black." Lily said irritably.

"Moony, why do people insist on treating me like this?"

"Maybe because you don't think before you speak," Lily interrupted, "And maybe because your best friend is a prat, and because it's your fault I'm dripping water all over the bloody school!" Lily shouted at him. She abandoned her toast and swung her leg over the bench, leaving in a hurry.

"See what I mean Moony? I get no respect…" Sirius said throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. Remus just snorted from behind the paper.

"Stupid Potter…I don't know what his problem is," Lily muttered to herself. She dried herself with her wand, muttering about stupid pranks. She headed to her dorm, now that she needed to shower. She didn't even know if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with Jordan. Sure, he was nice, but did she really like him like that? She didn't know. Gwen wasn't much help on the subject either. Lily was almost angry when she found James sitting in the Heads common room. Why did she have to share one with this brainless git?

"Hey James," Lily said casually, trying to not act mad, although she was becoming more furious each second. James raised an eyebrow.

"Not in a yelling mood all of a sudden?" James teased. It took all of Lily's will power not to rip the git's bloody head off.

"No…I wasn't yelling either. I was just trying to tell you that you have responsibilities…some you've been failing at following miserably."

"Like what?" He scoffed.

"Like setting a good example. Setting off fireworks in the dormitories is illegal James," Lily sighed as James smirked, "See? I was right! You did do it!" James shrugged, "I guess I won't…er…give you detention…for…uh…lack of evidence." James smiled.

"That's never stopped you before Evans." He stated. Lily shrugged while James continued, "It's okay, I know the real reason why you're letting me off." James said casually. He stood up and headed toward his own room, "The Potter charm never fails." He winked and left leaving a flustered Lily in the common room.

It took her a few seconds to regain her composure. Then she yelled after him, "Excuse me? James Potter, what the hell is that supposed to mean!" He didn't even respond. Lily tossed her shoe at the door then heard him laughing.

"Arrogant git!" Lily yelled…more laughing. Lily stormed into her room. How did his stupid comments frustrate her so much? _Okay, calm down Lily_. Lily finally calmed down enough to take a shower and get ready, not to mention go retrieve her shoe. She was ready early as always and went to the Gryffindor dormitory to wait for Gwen, Julie, and Alice. Gwen was sprawled out on her bed, complaining loudly about something.

"Hey Gwen."

"Lily…what's up…date with Harris, right?" Gwen asked. Lily smiled.

"Yeah…you and Black."

"We're friends," Gwen said simply.

"ALICE! Where'd you put my black shoes?" Julie yelled. Lily and Gwen rolled their eyes.

"So…you're not getting ready for your date with…ahem…your 'friend'?" Lily asked curiously. Gwen was about to answer when Michelle swept in, chatting with a petite, brunette, sixth year girl who was trailing at her heels like a lost puppy.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" Michelle asked surprised.

"Waiting…you don't mind do you?" Lily said, but she didn't care if Michelle minded or not. Gwen coughed something that sounded like 'Princess', but Michelle acted as if she didn't notice. Instead she smiled at Lily.

"Of course not! Did you see James yet today?" she asked, a hint of jealously in her voice.

"Yes…I did actually. He was being a git as usual," Lily said shrugging.

"What'd he do this time? Did he try to ask you out?" Gwen asked curiously.

"No!" both Michelle and Lily answered. Lily and Gwen stared at Michelle. Michelle straightened giving the small girl to her left a glance before smugly answering.

"I'm going to Hogsmade with James."

"Oh," was all Lily could say. She felt odd…why didn't James tell her? Not that he had to, but weren't they friends? Then again, she hadn't told him about Harris. Lily wasn't sure if he still liked "her…obviously not. That was good…right? Even if it didn't feel the best…

"Poor James…" Gwen muttered.

"Well…Michelle…you better get ready. By the way, Potter loves it when girls wear pink," Lily added with a grin. Michelle smiled.

"Really? Thanks Lily…" her gaze fell on Gwen and she sneered slightly, "I have to get ready."

Once she went toward the bathroom Gwen looked at Lily.

"James hates pink."

"I know," Lily said. Gwen grinned

"You're a bloody genius Lily." Lily just smiled

"I know."

"You're also a know it all." Gwen laughed as Lily frowned, "Just kidding…sort of. Sirius better not be planning on double dating with James…I might kill myself." Lily laughed.

"Yes…your date…that's a 'friend'." she added quotations around the 'friends'

"Hey, we are! I mean…he really is just a friend…"

"Yeah, a friend with benefits," came Alice's cheeky reply who was glancing at herself in the mirror. "How do I look?" She was wearing blue jeans and a low red cut top with her cloak draped on one arm. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm…you're wearing that to Hogsmeade?"

"Frank'll be drooling over you Alice," Gwen assured while giving Lily a glare, "Ignore the Head Girl. She'll try to get you in a sweater turtleneck…"

"I would not!" Lily cried, pushing Gwen off the bed so she fell with a smack, "But it is cold out—"

"That hurt!" came Gwen's muffled voice. Lily just smirked and stuck out her tongue.

"Really mature," Alice said with a smirk, "Anyway, I'm leaving…I told Frank I'd meet him a bit early." Julie hollered something about her mascara from the bathroom, "IT"S RIGHT HERE JULIE!" Alice yelled back. Julie's head stuck out from the door.

"Alice, I'm never going to be ready!" Julie was wearing a jean skirt with a white blouse and attempting to put on her earrings as she walked over.

"You look cute," Gwen commented, "However, your mother might think your skirt is going too short…wait, is that mine?" Julie smiled.

"Yes."

"Oh…thanks for asking," Gwen noted, frowning, "Maybe I was going to wear it."

"First, no you weren't. Second, I did ask…you were sleeping."

"Oh…well that's unfair. You know it doesn't count if I'm unconscious…"

"Oh, shut up the pair of you," Lily cut in, "I need to go though, I told Jordan I'd meet him in about five minutes." Gwen and Julie nodded, "Have fun on your dates…don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Fat chance!" called Gwen as she left, "Give Harris a good snog!" Lily rolled her eyes at her friend before heading out. She found Jordan waiting down in the entrance hall. Giving him her most dazzling smile she could muster, he held out this arm.

"You look nice," he said smiling.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Lily said with a grin. He just laughed. They talked about classes mostly as they walked down. She was surprised that they were able to hold a conversation for this long. She'd been rather nervous that they wouldn't have much to talk about.

Truth is, she didn't even know much about him, even if she had liked him in fifth year.

"Where do you want to go first?" He asked.

"Er…I've always liked Honeydukes," Lily suggested. So they visited Honeydukes, then they went to Dervish and Bangs for a while which Lily had a surprisingly good time. Finally they headed to the Three Broomsticks and ordered a couple butterbeers and made their way to a small booth. Lily waved when she spotted Alice a few tables away.

"Alice and Frank?" Jordan asked glancing over.

"Yeah…they're going out now," Lily said with a small smile, Jordan didn't say anything. Truthfully he looked awkward, "So…you play Keeper, right?" Lily piped up to ease some of the tension.

"Yeah," he smirked, "Captain too."

"Really? I didn't know that…" Unfortunately that got Jordan started. Lily was starting to wonder if all boys were obsessed with Quidditch. She waved as Gwen walked in. Gwen grinned and dragged Sirius over.

"Hey Lily, hey Jordan, mind if we join you." Gwen asked

"Well…" Jordan obviously did, but Gwen paid him no attention.

"Wonderful. Lily, Sirius and I went to Zonko's! We spent an hour in there…"

"Merlin…please, don't tell me what you bought. I'll have to give you detention most likely…" Sirius grinned.

"Aw, Evans, you wouldn't give me detention." he winked at her, Lily just rolled her eyes. Sirius seemed to have just realized that Lily had a date, "Oh…hey Harris. You Lily's date?"

"Yeah," he said with a small smile. There was idle chat for a bit longer before Jordan suggested a walk. Lily agreed and gave Gwen and Sirius a small wave. They seemed to be enjoying themselves…as 'friends'. They walked over towards the Shrieking Shack.

"It's haunted you know," Lily remarked looking up at the deserted shack.

"Yeah…never been inside." He said a bit wistfully

"Of course you haven't! You're not supposed to."

"That doesn't stop some people," he reminded.

"I guess not." Lily agreed, still staring at it. The place was a bit creepy when you looked at it…, "It creeps me out though." Jordan just laughed, putting his arm around her shoulder. It felt oddly nice. They talked for a bit longer as they headed back by the school. She was glad she'd said yes, Lily thought. Yes, he was nice…he was smart and good looking…why would she have said no. They both stopped near the Great Hall.

"Erm…well, it was really nice Lily…" he trailed off looking a tad awkward.

"Yeah, thanks for asking me," Lily said giving him a sweet smile. Jordan grinned.

"We should do it another time?" No.

"Sure," Lily said smiling. He smiled then bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Okay then, I'll see you around Lily," he said grinning as he walked down the corridor. Lily's smiled faded. She didn't even like him like that, and she for one didn't want to lead him on. She really should like him though if she thought about it. He was cute, smart, nice, but for some reason she just couldn't see herself with him. She found herself thinking…

_I could see myself even with James_

_Wait_

_What?_

_Er…._

_Did I just say that?_

_That can't be good…_

The Halloween feast was full of interesting sweets and the usual eat 'til your stuffed deal.

"How was your date Lily?" Gwen poked. Lily shrugged.

"Not as good as yours," Lily smirked. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"We're friends!" _Sure_ "You think someone could have a decent relationship with that boy?"

"There are always times for firsts," Lily stated suggestively. Alice giggled, but Lily realized she was laughing at Frank, not her comment. Right…those two lovebirds…

"Anyway, so…anything happened with Harris?"

"I dunno," Lily shrugged, wanting to change the subject. She was watching James and Michelle out of the corner of her eye.

_Were they going out? _She thought

_ Not that she cared_

_…It was just…_

_Weird._

"Lily?" Gwen poked her again, "Earth to Lily!"

"Oh…er…what?"

"I said, what happened?"

"Nothing really. To be honest…it wasn't too fun. I mean he's nice and all—"

"But he's boring," Gwen finished. She shrugged, "Ah, well, Sirius and I tried to join you but your date didn't seem to enjoy our company." Lily rolled her eyes.

"I wonder why." She joked

"And they say you're my friend."

"So…Julie's sitting by the Marauders?" Lily said changing the subject and stealing a glance down the table. Michelle was giggling while James was…stuffing his face. Typical.

"Yeah," Gwen scoffed "Julie said she'd come back in a minute…hmpf."

"Are they going out?" Lily asked with interest.

"Nah…they're both too nervous to ask one another. Stupid really, it's so obvious…" Lily stopped listening as she watched James. He ran a hand through his hair, and Lily smiled slightly, remembering how she would get so angry at this. Suddenly, his gaze turned and fell on her. Then, he winked. Lily immediately turned away, feeling herself turning red.

"Wha' 'er 'romlem?" Gwen asked her mouth full of mashed potatoes. Lily rolled her eyes. Did Gwen own any manners. She gulped, "Sorry, what's up?" she craned her neck down the table, "Who were you starring at?"

"No one!" Lily snapped.

"You're blushing!" Gwen accused. Lily took a bite of her chicken and refused to answer. Gwen eyed her suspiciously the rest of the night, but Lily completely ignored it, even when Gwen began whispering to Julie once she retured. Julie's eyes just widened to the size of dishes, and she giggled.

"How ironic."

"Oh quit it, I can hear you two!" Lily snapped, although she couldn't hear a word they were saying.

"Right." Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. Her friends were horrible. Absolutely horrible.

_A/N: Hey! Don't know what I think of this chapter, I mean Hogsmeade and what not so I guess thats important so I lied about the really good chapter last time :/ Sorry, my computer wasn't working, so i apologize for the late update! please review I love 'em!_


	7. A Kiss and A Quidditch Match

**Disclaimer: If I did own Harry Potter, I would not be writing fan fiction. So there.**

Chapter 7—A Kiss and A Quidditch Match

November meant one thing to most Gryffindors- Quidditch. Lily was sick of it already with the constant talk about it. Especially Gwen and James, they were the worst. Lily did her best to ignore them, but the night before the game she was stuck with James during Head Duties.

"I think that the Slytherins have built up a good defense. I mean, their Beaters are good, I won't lie, but their seeker…Malfoy. I mean, that just sums it up doesn't it? He has barely an ounce of talent…okay maybe a bit, but I don't think he's the threat. We've got bloody amazing chasers so—"

"Shut up will you?" Lily snapped, rolling her eyes. James just look at her with wide eyes.

"What?" James asked, blinking.

"I'm so sick of hearing you talk about Qudditch!"

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry it's just….Pick something else," said Lily vaguely.

"Er…so…McGonagall, d'you think she'll excuse me for not doing my homework?" Lily snorted. McGonagall…excuse homework? Never.

"No. Why?"

"Well we have Quidditch tomorrow…"

"Urgh!"

"Sorry," James grinned, "It's just…it's tomorrow, and I'm a bit nervous. I am the captain after all and—"

"Wait, did James Potter just say he was nervous?" Lily interrupted, giving him a teasing smile. James shrugged but Lily took advantage of this moment, "I never thought I'd live to see the day. James Potter…my goodness…is the world coming to an end?"

"Har, har," James said sarcastically. Lily just stuck out her tongue. James poked her with his wand causing Lily to squeal.

"Hey! What was that for?" Lily said as sparks emitted from his wand. James grinned widely.

"What?" he asked, giving her an innocent look. Lily rolled her eyes and was about to comment when she heard laughter that sounded reasonably familiar.

"Shh…" Lily pulled James with her as she tried to hide slightly. James grinned at her and Lily gave him a confused look until she realized she was still clutching him by the robes and he was rather close…too close… Particularly close to his face "Potter!" she hissed, and realized his robes and snapped her head back at the scene "Shut up!" she held a hand up to stop him from speaking. The stupid prat just smirked. Oh, he thought he was all knowing, did he? Lily just rolled her eyes and waited until she saw the teenagers turn the corner. It was Gwen and Sirius.

"Gwen!" Lily yelled, jumping out. Gwen swiveled around, her eyes wide. Then she laughed.

"Hey Lily…James," she was smirking. She and Sirius exchanged looks, "Er…what were you two doing?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"Patrolling." she replied a bit to quickly.

"Ah, that's what they call it now," Sirius said winking.

"Sirius—!" Lily warned. Sirius and Gwen were laughing while James got up and put an arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Hey guys." James said smirking.

"James," Lily huffed, annoyed. She shrugged his arm off then turned her attention back to her friend, "What are you two doing? It's past curfew and—"

"Aw, we were just having an innocent trip to the kitchens," Sirius said while Gwen sniggered. Lily rolled her eyes. They were totally not just 'friends' anymore, although they both denied it.

"I'm sure," Lily replied dryly, "Anyway, we were hiding so we could sneak up on the unsuspecting students…we didn't know it'd be you two!"

"A likely story," Sirius said smirking.

"Go to bed…the two of you!" Lily snapped. James and Sirius were both smirking while Gwen looked as if she were contemplating something.

"Okay…I'll see you tomorrow Lily! You better be at that game! C'mon you…" she said, beckoning Sirius.

"Hey! You? I have a name you know…" Sirius pouted.

"Sirius," Lily said warningly, her eyes narrowed. Sirius grinned and followed Gwen down the corridor. As soon as they disappeared, Lily turned to James, "We really shouldn't let them get away with that."

"Why not?" James asked, surprised.

"We're Heads! They're breaking the rules and—"

"It isn't that big of a deal—"

"—we're supposed—"

"To be an example?" James suggested shrewdly. Lily glared at him, "Aw, c'mon, they're our best mates!" Lily just sighed muttering under her breath while James grinned, "Besides…I have a feeling they were…er...having quite an _entertaining time_." Lily snorted.

"Hmph…ya think? They're just snogging whenever we're not around. I'm not the top witch in our year for nothing! Why don't they just go out?" Lily paused, then thought better of the situation "Never mind."

"Oh? What?" James quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Well…I can understand why Gwen wouldn't go out with Sirius….." Lily went on James frowned.

"Why?" James asked as if he clearly had no idea on what she was talking about. Lily gave him a knowing look. Wasn't it obvious?

"Er…if you haven't noticed, Sirius is a bit of a player…she doesn't want to be the next girl he just dates for a month."

"She won't!" James exclaimed. Lily gave him a disbelieving look, "No really…she's my friend too," he persisted. Lily raised an eyebrow, "Listen…he likes her, a lot. I dunno…but you got to take chances in my opinion." Lily shook her head.

"No, not if her heart is just going to get broken."

"Gwen isn't that type of person. She can't just play it safe all the time," James said shaking his head. His hand automatically went through his hair, and Lily found it almost…

cute…

wait,

_what_?

Oh bullocks…

"Anyway, Sirius…he's a good person. He doesn't want to hurt her. He likes her...a lot. She's not just any girl to him."

"I know, but personally, I don't think it's a good idea the more I think about it."

"Then maybe you're over thinking it Evans," James said. She wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Right…enough about their relationship. What about yours?" Lily asked, quickly changing the subject. James looked surprised, and blinked a few times before saying:

"Mine?"

"Yeah, you and Michelle?" A look of realization appeared and James frowned slightly, before giving a careless shrug.

"Nothing serious…I dunno, I guess I could ask her out, but to be honest, I don't like her that much."

"Good," Lily said without thinking. James blinked in shock then plastered a smile on his face that reached his eyes.

"Ah…I see…jealous Evans?" He said wiggling his eye brows

"Not a chance…I just don't like Michelle much. She's a bit of a umm… I just think you could do much better Potter," Lily said grinning back.

Oh shite.

_I can't believe I just said that!_

"Of course…" he trailed off, still wearing his goofy grin.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded hotly. James just smirked, his bloody arrogant smirk. Argh! "James, don't even start…I didn't mean it like that! I-I" Lily said scowling now. James had to be almost a head taller and looked down at her smirking, "Stop smirking!" Neither of them were walking now. She pushed him lightly in the chest, "I mean it!"

"I'm sure you do," he said as his smirk widened.

"Urgh! You are so insufferable sometimes. I mean—" he cut her off abruptly, by meeting his lips with hers. Shocked, it took her a moment to react. His lips felt soft and warm, and very welcoming until she realized who exactly was kissing her. Then she pulled away quickly, staring at him in utter shock. James looked almost as surprised and maybe a little ashamed. His hazel eyes were searching her green ones.

"Lily I—" he began. She didn't even wait. She took off down the corridor without another look behind her.

"Lily?" A familiar voice called. Lily opened a bleary eye, then opened both suddenly. Temporarily blinded by the bright amount of sunlight, she stumbled out of bed, bringing her covers over with her. She heard laughter and moaned, "C'mon Lily! You slept in…we're going to be late for the game!"

"What game?" Lily asked, confused. She'd had the worst dream. The problem was it was real. It had actually happened. She snogged James Potter… Well he actually snogged her and it was more like a kiss not a song and… Oh merlin did it matter? She involuntary shivered, thinking about it.

"Quidditch! C'mon, Gwen'll kill us if we're late. Alice, Remus, and Frank went to save seats." Julie said.

"Oh…I don't think I'm going…" Julie gave her friend a funny look.

"Why not?" Julie asked, now visibly frowning.

"I just…I don't want to," Lily answered lamely.

"Too bad, you're coming. Gwen would kill you if you didn't."

"Oh right…I guess I don't have a choice. I'll meet you there, okay?" Lily said feebly. Julie crossed her arms, eyeing her critically.

"Fess up Lily, what happened to you?"

"Nothing…just…er…bad dream." Julie rolled her eyes in disbelief, "No really…"

"Lily, I refuse to let you leave until—"

"Potter kissed me last night," Lily said with a heavy sigh. Julie shut up instantly. There was a few seconds of silence.

"Oh." Lily felt her temper rise.

"Oh? That's all you have to say? What is his bloody problem anyway? Why the hell does he think he can do that to me? He's such an arrogant bas—"

"Lily?" Julie intervened timidly. Lily glanced at her friend who was twirling a brown hair on her finger, "Er…he really did?" Lily nodded slowly, sighed, and collapsing on her bed, "Oh Merlin…"

"I know," came Lily's muffled response. Her face was now buried in her pillow.

"What'd you do?" Lily picked her head up and sighed.

"Er…I ran away," Lily muttered truthfully. Julie laughed.

"That's all?" Julie asked. Lily nodded, "Merlin…I was expecting some story on how James ended up in the Hospital Wing…but you didn't do _anything_?"

"Er…no?"

"Merlin…" Julie breathed.

"Quit it!" Lily quipped irritably. If she heard her say 'Merlin' one more time…

"Okay…we'll talk about it later with Gwen. Maybe you should talk to James…er…since you are…uh…were…uh…I don't know, have been friends."

"I don't know either, and no, I don't want to talk to him. I know what he'll say."

"What?"

"I'm 'sorry'."

"Oh…well…really?" Julie asked confused, "After all it's Potter. I didn't think he was big on apologies. Besides, maybe the incident can just blow over." Lily shook her head miserably while Julie narrowed her eyes, "You didn't like it…did you? I've heard he's a good kisser…"

"Damn good…" She said with a bit of a sigh

"LILY!" Julie shouted but when Lily looked over her friend had an amused expression on her face.

"What?" Lily asked staring at the ceiling, determined not to look Julie in the eye.

"You like him!" Julie urged.

"I don't know…"

"LILY!" Lily gave her friend an irritable look, "Sorry…it's just…Gwen was right. Damn…I owe her two gallons and five sickles…oh now three gallons actually…you guys kissed…"

"You had a bet going?" Lily asked, bouncing straight up.

"Oh…er…yes…" Julie winced slightly, "Sorry Lils…I didn't think it would actually happen, and Gwen kept being annoying about it. How ironic…the guy you've hated, is the guy you fancy, and not only that, he and Michelle are going out…as of…oh." Julie looked at Lily and bit her lip, "…this morning." Lily blinked and closed her eyes. She hated him…and yet she didn't.

"I hate him."

"No you don't. C'mon, let's go." Lily glared at her friend, "Don't worry, we don't mention it until you're ready. However, Gwen might find out…she's just good at this stuff. I'd tell her." Lily sighed and nodded.

"I know…God…I hate that boy. I hate him."

The Quidditch game was pretty much one of the worst Lily had ever been to. It didn't help that she was the third—or actually fifth wheel as Julie and Remus were together then Frank and Alice. Julie kept glancing over giving her a smile every once in a while since Lily looked so miserable, she supposed. Then Jordan Harris tried waving her over, so Lily ended up ducking behind Julie for twenty minutes.

"SWEADEN! GET IT!" Alice bellowed. Darryl Sweaden, a fourth year, had just missed the Quaffle which was quickly recovered by Jaclyn Pentelli, the Slytherin chaser. The game was taking forever. Lily watched as Gwen hit a nice Bludger at Lucius Malfoy, "NICE ONE! GO GWEN—"

"Into it much?" Lily muttered. They were already winning by fifty points. Would stupid Potter just catch the bloody snitch by now?

"…THAT WAS A FOUL!" Alice yelled suddenly. Bellatrix Black had just hit Sirius and almost knocked him off his broom. Bloody Slytherins. Alice was hollering so loud it was giving her a headache. Her eyes kept flickering upward towards James who was circling the pitch. She didn't want to think about him, but she couldn't help it. Suddenly the small blur that was James was diving. Lily, who had been sitting, skyrocketed up as he was going quickly down towards the ground. Lucius Malfoy was on his tail, but he obviously had gotten a later start. Where was the bloody snitch?

"They're going to crash," said Lily anxiously, barely able to find her voice as she watched the two speed towards the ground.

"GET IT POTTER!" Alice yelled into Lily's ear. In a few seconds, James pulled up, holding his fist in the air. He had the snitch, "WE WON! FRANK WE—" Frank, wonderful boy by the way, decided to shut her up by kissing her. Thank goodness.

"We won," Lily said faintly.

"Brilliant catch at the end—"

"—Potter's superb on a broom—" _Hmph, he's not the only one on the team_, Lily thought to herself. Great, now everyone would be talking about how wonderful James was except her. She had to be the only non-Slytherin to hate him so much at this moment. It sucked.

"Lily?" Julie asked over the loud crowd.

"Mmhm?"

"C'mon…" Julie was giving her that worried look again.

"Right…I'm coming Julie…er…actually, I think I'm going to find Gwen." Julie nodded then looked towards Remus and Lily smiled.

"Aw, you two have fun." Lily said smirking.

"No, Lily we're not—" Julie started but Lily just smirked and disappeared through the crowd. Remus looked slightly amused while Julie looked up at him, "Remus Lupin that is not funny."

"You're right, it's a very serious matter," he mocked in a deep voice. Julie rolled her eyes. Then her eyes fell on Gwen and Sirius who were snogging.

"Sirius is right…" Julie joked. Remus groaned.

"I can't believe you just said that. That is so old…" Julie shrugged, her eyes sparkling happily.

"So…what are we going to do?"

"There's the after party..." Remus said vaguely. Julie sighed and Remus gave her an interesting look. He was a Gryffindor right? C'mon…be brave…er…like James and Sirius, "But…you know Julie, there's always other things to do…" Julie's eyes widened for a moment then she laughed.

"Like what Mr. Lupin?" she asked playfully.

"Oh…I don't know." He whispered and wrapped his arms around her waist, "I'm sure we could think of something…"

_A/N: I really liked writing this chapter! I'll eventually explain why James goes out with Michelle. Sometimes guys can be so clueless. ha ha. So please tell me what you think. Oh, and also, I know James is not Seeker-but Chaser. Sorry, but I don't feel like rewriting it, so it is going to stay the way it is. And I super love the Remus and Julie cuteness! Thanks a bunch! And don't forget to review! _


	8. Nightmares and Butterbeer

**Disclaimer: Hmm lets think I don't live in a beach home in Florida with an everlasting chocolate fountain so I must not be J.K Rowling. Oh, darn!**

**Chapter 8—Nightmares and Butterbeer  
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_Lily sat in her room, idly twisting her quill, thinking about her Defense essay she was supposed to be working on. Stupid essay…why did they assign homework over the summer holidays anyway? Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream and the sound of crashing plates from downstairs that caught her attention. She immediately stood up and went to the top of the stairs._

_"Mum?" When no one answered, she decided to investigate it. Petunia was probably cooking something and dropped a plate. Odd…usually Lily was the one dropping plates. Petunia was much better in the area of etiquette and cooking. "Mum, what happened? Hey Mum—" as she entered the kitchen she froze. There was a tall cloaked figure standing in the middle of their polished kitchen. Her eyes immediately flew to her mother who was shaking and sobbing. What the hell?_

_"LILY, GET OUT!" her mother screamed suddenly. Lily froze. Who was this? What was going on? Where was her father? That's when the cloaked man turned around and Lily had to withhold a gasp. He was terrifying with pale skin, red slit eyes, a nose that was almost non apparent. It was more like slits…like a snake. It gave her the chills._

_"Who are you?" was the only question Lily could think of. The man's thin lips formed into a smirk._

_"Lily Evans," he hissed. He glanced back at her mother, "This is the whom I was talking to you about. If you had listened, perhaps he wouldn't have died…" her mother let out a large sob, she was still shaking. Who had died? Again, where was her father?_

_"You won't get her. Lily run! Get your wand! He's—" she didn't get to say what he was as he lazily drew out his wand and Grace Evans seemed to freeze. She looked at her daughter, petrified. Lily's mind was racing...who had died? It couldn't have been… Then she looked behind her terrified mother to find a body slouched up to the wall of her kitchen._

_Her Father._

_Tears stung her eyes and this was merrily all a joke thats it, yes, her daddy would pop up any second and give her a hug and say 'Gotcha!" But no.. This was all to real, and this was not funny in any manor at all._

_"Lily Evans," the man said again. Lily felt herself freeze. Instead of running away, she stuttered a question._

_"W-who are y-you?" _

_"I?" the man's voice had a hint of amusement to it, "I think you know who 'I' am."_

Lily woke up with a start, shaking badly. She was dreaming about it more and more lately. It wouldn't go away. Her head was pounding as if a ton of bricks had fallen on her head…she'd worried so much yesterday during the stupid Quidditch match. All those things were so trivial really. What did it matter if Potter didn't like her any more? Who really cared if she liked him? She hadn't even stayed for that stupid after party last night. Lily stood up, knowing she wouldn't be able to get any sleep. She walked into the common room where their fire was out. She quickly lit the fire and sat on the couch, curling up. Her thoughts kept flashing back to their bodies…the sudden (but not quick enough) appearance of the Ministry wizards...the funeral…she closed her eyes. It wasn't good for her to reminisce these things, but it was all she thought about when her mind was empty.

It hadn't as bad during school when she was with friends. Her mind kept busy…maybe she should study. She quickly got out her Transfiguration homework, deciding to do some extra practice work. Human Transfiguration was difficult enough, but she couldn't focus for anything. After a few failed attempts, Lily lost her patience. Frustrated and angry, she kicked the table. It surprisingly felt good, so she did what anyone would do. She did it again…and again. Then she turned it over. She smirked.

"Ha. I got you. Stupid coffee table…you never turned into that dog last week when I practiced on you for Transfiguration." Lily gave it another kick. My goodness she sounded ridiculous and her foot, Ow! Oh merlin…perhaps she should stop.

"Bloody hell…Lily what are you doing?" Lily whipped about to see James Potter standing there rather tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Why wasn't he wearing a shirt? Whoa, he had a very nice abdomen and extremely chiseled…oh god, did she just think that? Oh no… I need to think bad thoughts.

Er…. Dead puppies, Transfiguration, Quidditch, Michelle Sheperd! Ahhh there we are….

"Nothing, what are you doing?" Lily snapped back. James blinked and looked down at the table.

"What happened?" Had he heard her talking to the table? Lily felt her cheeks flushing.

"It fell," said Lily quickly.

"Oh…how?"

"Go to bed, Potter…and throw on a shirt." James blinked, obviously still half asleep. Then he grinned.

"You were looking Evans?" Lily rolled her eyes, her anger was slowly growing with each comment he made.

"No! Just go back to bed, alright?"

"Yeah…" he turned to go then stopped and faced her again, "Hey, why are you up knocking over tables anyway?"

"Potter…" She warned

"I was just wondering…you were making a hell of a noise in here…"

"Potter…"

"Late night?" he asked with a smirk.

"POTTER! GO AWAY!" Lily yelled, her face was turning the color of her hair. James' grin flickered.

"Er…Lily?"

"GET OUT!"

"This is my common room too—" Lily let out a scream of frustration again and kicked the table again.

"Shit! Ow!"

"Lily!"

"WHAT?" Lily yelled.

"Er…are you mad at me?" Lily looked at him. Was he a complete idiot? She couldn't help it, she laughed. She sat there and laughed at him. James stood there staring at her in confusion while Lily kept laughing. When she finally stopped, she felt oddly calm. Then she glared at James.

"You know, maybe, just maybe the world doesn't revolve around James Potter!" She walked away and slammed her bedroom door, hoping that the boy in the other room felt just as confused as she did.

Lily woke up the next morning, glad it was Sunday. Today was a day of no homework. She had to get out of the stoop she was in and—oh shit. The moment she stepped into the common room, James Potter's head whisked around.

"Morning Lily."

"Potter," Lily gave him a stiff nod. She felt self conscious. Her auburn hair was falling out of a messy ponytail. She was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie and she was pretty sure her mascara was running down her face from the night before.

"Er…can you wait a second?" he asked tentatively as Lily headed toward the portrait. Lily stopped and looked at him.

"There's one."

"I'm serious."

"Really? I thought you were James." Lily said, trying to lighten up the mood. James didn't look too amused.

"Er…about the other night."

"Already forgotten," Lily said harsher then she intended upon. James Potter actually looked nervous, "It's better that way, eh, Potter? You and Michelle are an item now I've heard…"

"Are you mad about that?"

"Why would I be mad?" Lily asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. She didn't like him! Merlin! She didn't! She couldn't! Damn…how did she fall for James Potter again?

"Well you seemed awfully mad last night…"

"Once again, the world doesn't revolve around you, contrary to your previous belief…"

"—and you didn't go to the party last night and you've been avoiding me—"

"I have not been avoiding you! Potter, you're the one that's been at parties and Quidditch matches! And if I had been, why would that mean I was mad about you and Michelle? You've done many other bigheaded things I can blow up at you about." James grinned.

"I just have this feeling…" Lily raised an eyebrow, and James grinned.

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"Right…I'm going to breakfast. Did you get that feeling?"

"No…because you haven't told me what's wrong yet!"

"And why would I tell you?"

"Because we're friends." Lily just rolled her eyes and headed out the portrait hole while James followed her on her heels, "We are friends, aren't we Evans?"

"Sure."

"You don't sound to enthusiastic…" Lily tried walking faster, but he kept up unfortunately.

"Wonder why…"

"So, why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad, you're just being an annoying git!"

"How?"

"By asking me irritable questions," Lily spat. James chuckled.

"Okay, fine, I'm going to ask one more 'irritable question'…why were you mad last night? People don't just kick furniture for the fun of it."

"Some may argue with that…" James sighed as they entered the Great Hall. Lily plopped down across from Gwen whom she hadn't really talked to, but James followed her of course.

"Yes, but you don't do it."

"How do you know?"

"I—"

"Look pudding!"

"Where?" James looked down the table, "There's no pudding."

"Yes there is. Morning Gwen." Gwen glanced up and muttered something before placing her head back down.

"Where? I don't see it."

"Hey Prongs," Sirius said waltzing in with Peter behind him.

"Lily, you lied, there is no pudding." James whined. Lily smiled to herself. Julie was right. Pudding was the perfect distraction technique.

"Oops, I must've been mistaken," Lily said shrugging, now buttering her toast. Merlin, that boy had a short attention span.

"Where's Remus?" Julie asked plopping down beside Gwen and shoving her slightly. Gwen let out a groan and everyone laughed.

"Er…his mum wasn't feeling well," James supplied. Julie frowned.

"Oh…so he left?" Julie asked. The boys exchanged shifty glances, and Lily snorted. Did they really think they were subtle? She already knew Remus was a werewolf, she'd found out in her fifth year, but none of her friends knew. She doubted the Marauders knew she knew. She found out after Remus kept missing patrols for Prefect, but she never let on that she knew. So now, whenever he made up excuses, she found them quite funny. He was an awful liar, "He didn't say anything yesterday," Julie continued, looking at the Marauders expectantly.

"Yeah…he'll be back in a few days…pass the marmalade will you?" Sirius said with ease. Julie passed it over, still not looking convinced. They were now officially going out as of the Quidditch match.

"Is he alright? I noticed he was looking sick yesterday too. I mean, I know he gets sick a lot, is it a family thing?" Julie asked with curiosity and concern. There was an awkward silence that fell over and everyone exchanged glances.

"Julie, do you have any pudding?" Lily asked. Julie raised an eyebrow.

"Lily, I came up with that, remember?" Julie reminded.

"I mean, oh! Alice!" Alice waved as she came in and sat next to Lily.

"Morning," Alice said cheerfully. Gwen muttered something and lifted her head a fraction.

"Everyone's here?"

"Except Remus," Julie threw in quickly.

"Yeah…late night Gwen?" Lily asked, smirking.

"Oh…er…you know, the Quidditch party." Gwen straightened up now and let out a big yawn, "Where were you anyhow?" Julie met her eye on this one, and Lily gave her a look that said 'haven't said anything yet'.

"You know…I was tired…besides I don't really like those parties. Everyone always ends up drunk—"

"That's not true! It's usually only Padfoot!" James interrupted. Gwen chortled.

"Last year? After we won the Quidditch cup? I believe it was you that chugged a whole thing of firewhiskey." Lily snorted while James grinned sheepishly.

"Okay, well, I didn't last night."

"Yeah, that's 'cos you were too busy snogging the 'Princess' the whole night," Gwen cut in, rolling her eyes.

"Princess?"

"Michelle," Lily muttered. She wasn't mad. At least he had fun last night…stupid prat. Hadn't he liked her? Had she finally driven him off the edge? Or maybe he was happy just being friends? Oh why was this so difficult all of a sudden? She didn't need to like him. Besides, she didn't like him that much. Then why was she feeling so jealous of Michelle? Oh dear teenage hormones.

_Bullocks Bollucks_

_Merlin_

_Shite_

_Damn_

The next week was torture for Lily-especially Head duties which were awkward silence. Then, she had finally told Gwen some of the truth. She said she had kissed Potter and almost liked him, but it was all behind her. She insisted she didn't like him, but she had a feeling Gwen didn't believe her in the slightest. Meanwhile Michelle Shepherd was strutting around like Queen Bee because she was dating James Potter. Lily avoided the two of them as much as possible, but it wasn't working out as well as planned. Julie on the other hand, was dropping hints about Remus, and how she had a feeling he was lying to her about something.

"I'm sure it's fine. He'll tell you in his own time."

"Well if he has a big bad secret, shouldn't he tell me now that I'm his girlfriend? I mean, really! Where's Gwen? She'll support me on this…"

"Somewhere with Sirius and James."

"James isn't with Michelle?"

"Nah. Michelle was in the dorm," Lily said rolling her eyes, "I just went up a bit ago looking for Alice."

"Oh, she's with Longbottom. They're so cute."

"Yeah," Lily set down her quill and stretched out on the couch, "Let's do something."

"Like what?" Julie asked, abandoning her book, "We could go find Gwen…"

"No, she's with Black…and Potter." Lily supplied.

"Oh, right, you're avoiding him."

"We could sneak into Hogsmade. I could use a butterbeer."

Lily snorted, "Oh yeah, that'll work."

"Mmhm, Remus showed me that secret passageway that leads to the Honeyduke cellar. He took me Wednesday…he was feeling guilty. You know why? He's lying to me!"

"Drop it will you?" Lily wasn't sure if she should tell her. She had the idea that Julie would rather hear it from Remus himself. Julie muttered, "And you two went out of bounds? On a school night?"

"Yep. It was fun." Julie squeaked.

"Fun? As in against-the-rules-and-I'm-Head-Girl-and-I-should-give-you-detention type fun?" Lily scolded

"No. Like the I-didn't-get-caught-and-know-how-to-live-a-little type of fun." Julie shot back.

"I live a little!"

"Ooh, did you stay out past curfew?" Julie teased.

"Shut up. I could so do it if I wanted to. I'm Head Girl though, and if I did get caught…"

"See? You're too cautious…"

"I am not!" Lily argued.

"Then do it."

Lily glared at her friend. Julie's dark eyes gleamed, and she smirked as Lily struggled, "Fine! But if we get caught—''

"I'll be the one that gets in trouble. No worries. It'll be good. Remus is making up the Transfiguration test he missed…you know, when he was 'visiting his aunt'.

"His mother wasn't it?"

"Don't worry, next time it'll be his aunt," Julie muttered. She obviously wasn't going to drop it anytime soon.

Lily was freaking out the whole time until they ended up in Honeydukes. Julie was ready to hit her, but once Lily realized they were in Hogsmade, she was distracted.

"Ooh…look…Julie!" she said pointing to the new chocolate they were advertising. Julie rolled her eyes. Ten minutes later, Julie managed to drag Lily out of the candy shop, and they headed out towards the Three Broomsticks. Lily even admitted it was fun. Then she threatened Julie if she told anyone, she'd give her detention for the rest of the year. Julie just laughed before insisting they needed to get back.

"Gwen is going to kill us when she found out we went without her," Julie chuckled.

"That's what she gets. Hanging out with Potter…" Lily muttered angrily

"Mostly Sirius…" Julie piped in.

"Him too. They're identical aren't they?"

"Then why do you hate James more?"

"Because, Sirius isn't constantly asking me out."

"James isn't any more."

"Yes, so…I guess I don't hate him. I just…passionately dislike."

"Why?" Lily glared at her friend as they walked back. She knew what Julie was getting at, and it wasn't like that.

"He's always been a jerk to me Julie, don't even start. Just because Gwen harbors her feelings by pretending to hate the person she likes, doesn't mean I would."

"It doesn't mean you wouldn't either."

"Now you're just being stubborn."

"Like you're one to talk," Julie returned swiftly. Lily stared at her friend. What had gotten into her? She was about to yell at Julie when a loud voice interrupted them both, causing Lily to spin around.

"Wha' are yer two doin' 'round here?" came the gruff voice of Hagrid the gamekeeper. Lily breathed again. Although Hagrid looked intimidating with his enormous size, he was a softy at heart.

"Hi Hagrid…we were…er…just walking." Hagrid laughed. He obviously didn't believe they're little fib.

"Course yer were."

"No really," Lily stared earnestly.

"Lily, it's okay, it's Hagrid," Juile reminded, "Hey Hagrid, how've you been?"

"Alrigh'…gotta ask Dumbledore some questions about the school cabbages. Now, why 're you all wanderin' by Hogsmade? Snuck out have you?"

"No you see—"

"Just for a butterbeer."

"Julie!"

"Righ'…Three Broomsticks?" Hagrid asked, nodding.

"Yep, they do it the best."

"Suppos' so…don' go getting' in trouble now. Oy, Lily, don' worry, I wasn't 'bout to go tell Dumbledore." Hargrid added kindly. Lily nodded gratefully while Julie was rolling her eyes.

"Thanks Hagrid," Lily said ignoring her friend.

"Come 'n visit me sometime, 'cept not now, I'm busy. I'll see yer two aroun'," he said gruffly before stomping off. Lily glared at Julie. Julie just grinned.

"C'mon…I'm freezing." Lily sighed and ran after her friend into the warmth of the castle, thinking that this was the most fin she's had in a while.

**A/N: So...what did you think? Drop a review please and... Oh yes I know this was horrible… gr… since I'm so nice I'll update for the 3rd time today enjoy.**


	9. An Unexpected Invitation

Chapter 9—An Unexpected Invitation

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. All I am doing is writing a fan fiction. I sadly do not own these wonderful characters...now on with the story.**

The harsh November weather was greeted with the first snowfall as December rolled in. Filch was giving out handful of detentions to students that tracked in sloppy, wet slush into the castle while Lily tried to maintain order with the Marauders indoor snowfights. Eventually McGonagall had stepped in, ending the fight. Lily was still muttering about it under her breath when James entered the Head common room and sat next to her.

"Potter, what are you doing?" Lily asked, pushing him off the couch. He was such an irritable twit. James fell with a large 'umph' then grinned up at her.

"Hey Lily flower."

"Sod off." Lily snapped

"Be polite Lillian."

"Go away. Don't you have detention or something?"

"Are you mad about our snowball fight with the Slytherins?" Lily just glared at him, "I got Snape right in his large, greasy, slimy nose—"

"Oh go away! I know, I witnessed it remember? And I don't think it's anything you should brag about—" Lily's lecture was interrupted by a tap on the frosted window pane across the room. Lily grunted, "Get it, won't you?"

"It's not my owl," he said, not moving from the floor.

"It's not mine either. I don't know who would be sending me owl post." James grudgingly got up and opened the window, letting in a small, grey feathered owl. Surprisingly it swooped in and dropped a letter on Lily's lap. Then it flew out without waiting for a reply.

"Who's it from?" James asked curiously.

"None of your business Potter."

"Secret admirer? Who's writing to you? Lemme see—" Lily snatched it out of reach as James tried to take it from her.

"Quit it you idiot!" Lily snapped. She frowned at it, then ripped it open. Her eyes fell to the bottom and she her frown deepened as it was signed from her sister.

_Lily,_

_I've got some news. I wasn't sure how to get this to you, but Aunt Rose had the brilliant idea of writing it to a friend of yours who knew the address. In other words, she had a bloody owl. Another freak of course. _

_ Anyway, I am getting married. You are invited (not out of choice, mind you) to my wedding this winter. Aunt Rose insisted you had to be there. Anyway, the wedding is December 21. Buy your own dress, . Don't worry, Vernon's sister is much more respectable, except for the fact that she likes dogs. It's rather disgusting. You are supposed to bring a date, but I understand if you can't get anyone to come with you. I would feel sorry for them. Then again, they're all freaks like you. You probably get along great. Don't send a freaky owl with this letter. I'll have Vernon shoot it with his shotgun. Just show. I don't care, but Aunt Rose won't believe that I invited you if you don't show up. So make it, okay? After all, she's helping paying for it. I hope you're happy. I never really will have my dream wedding. It's all your fault. You better buy Vernon and I a good wedding present. A good, normal wedding present, that is._

_Petunia (soon to be Dursley) Evans_

Lily blinked and reread the letter again. How in the name of Merlin did Petunia manage to snag a husband? Not that Vernon Dursley was all that, for certain, he wasn't a sight for sore eyes. Instead he had a face that reminded her of a overgrown turnip and the figure of a walrus. No, defiantly not Lily's type. She was more tall, athletic, cute, kinda like James…no, not James, like…er…Potter? No, that couldn't be right…oh screw it. So what? James Potter was good looking. She couldn't help that. It wasn't her fault. She felt herself reddening as she realized he was staring at her. Why was she thinking about him anyway? Oh right…handsome…opposite of Vernon, Petunia's fiancé. She was more shocked that Petunia was getting married then the nasty letter itself.

"Uh Lily?"

"What?" Lily snapped, coming back to her senses.

"Who was it from?"

"What?"

"The letter," he said, as if it were obvious. Whoops.

"Not like it was any of your business," Lily responded coolly, "But it was from my sister. Not my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend? Is it that Harris character? I thought you didn't like him! He was always a bit nerdy if you asked me—"

"Shut up, and no, Jordan and I have never been a couple. We just went to Hogsmade once. You're the one that's dating at the moment." James scrunched up his nose at this, and Lily scowled. At least he had a girlfriend, even if it was Michelle Shepherd. Meanwhile, Lily needed to find a date for Petunia's stupid wedding otherwise Petunia would mock her the whole time. Fantastic. She didn't even want to go to her sister's bloody wedding.

"Don't remind me."

"Shut up. You decided to go out with her. If you didn't like her, you shouldn't have asked her."

"I know, I regret it now."

"Then just end it."

"I am."

"Really? When are you doing so?" Lily asked truthfully curious.

"Uh…"

"Don't tell me, James Potter is afraid of the Princess?" Lily teased

"Princess?"

"Oh, yeah, that's what Gwen nicknamed her. Kinda lame…anyway, afraid she'll cry? Throw a tantrum? Tell everyone you're a horrible kisser?"

"I am not a horrible kisser!" James said, offended.

"I never said you were," said Lily in exasperation. Of course, she would know. Wait, why was she thinking that? Stupid Potter.

"What did your sister write to you about? I thought she hated you."

"Thanks. You really know how to boost someone's confidence."

"Hey, that's what you told me." He defended.

"I know. She's getting married," said Lily, making a face.

"Married?"

"Yeah, to some idiot named Vernon Dursley. Urgh, now I have to go. I don't even want to."

"Really? Why not?"

"I'm going to have to get a bloody dress and wear stupid heels and then get mocked the whole night because I don't have a date. Oh and there's no way I'm taking Harris, he's…well…"

"Boring?"

"No! I mean, he's nice and all, but, I dunno, he only talks about Qudditch and classes. He's a good friend, but I don't want him to get the wrong idea…"

"He's boring," James repeated. Lily gave him an annoyed look but really try to defend him he was rather boring, James continued "You'd rather be going with someone, oh, I don't know, smart, handsome, funny…in other words, me." Lily snorted. I wish.

"Only in your dreams Potter." Lily stated. And mine as well… Lily shook these thoughts away. Bad thoughts, Lily, you can't be thinking that! You and James are only friends…he also has a girlfriend.

"Fine, who else are you going to go with?"

"I dunno…I think it'd be better if I just went alone anyway. I mean what date would want to go and get ridiculed by my sister the whole night?" James grinned, "Potter, shut up."

"You know, this time I didn't say anything." Lily gave him an evil glare that he returned with a smirk. Why was she falling for such an arrogant git. It was like he knew…no. He couldn't know. No, he didn't. If he had, he would've asked her out, right? Unless…he didn't like her anymore. Now he was just messing with her. Besides he hadn't even broken up with the girlfriend he didn't like to begin with, why would that imply that he liked her? It was simple, James Potter had finally gotten over Lily Evans after all the years of nagging and begging her to go out with him. Being herself, Lily had to pick the time when he stopped liking her. Brilliant plan Evans, brilliant plan.

"James just go away."

"Fine, well, if you change your mind," he gave her a wink before walking out. Lily closed her eyes and sighed. She could still smell the scent of his cologne lingering in the air…

Charms was an easy class for Lily. She didn't have to try to be good at it. She just…was. It gave her the perfect opportunity now to talk to Gwen, Julie, and Alice about her…problem. However, it looked like she wasn't the only one having guy problems.

"At least you're going out with your boyfriend. Sirius and I are just 'friends'," Gwen said to Julie using air quotes, "Bloody friends…I don't know why…"

"That's your fault," Julie snapped, "You told him you wanted to be "friends". I however did not want Remus lying to me. He's doing it all on his own. Think he's fooling me? Once a month he goes to his aunt, then his grandmothers…you don't think he's cheating on me?" Julie asked with sudden worry.

"Why would he do it only once a month?" Alice reminded reasonably, "I think his whole family is rather sickly. Even today he doesn't look so good. I think he's looking rather pale." Julie just shrugged.

"So, let's say there is something wrong, why wouldn't he tell me? Do you think I should talk to him? I know he's lying. He should trust me, shouldn't he? I mean, if his aunt really is sick, why can't he tell me what she has? I asked him then he ran off talking about how he had to return a library book."

"Fishy," Gwen agreed.

"Gwen, yours is simple. Sirius likes you, you like Sirius. Just go out," Alice said simply. Alice, always the mediator.

"Oh yes, because you and Frank are so perfect," Gwen said snippily.

"No it's not my fault I'm not overdramatic. Only you and Julie are having boy problems. Lily and I are just fine. Right Lils." It was more of a statement then a question. Lily just groaned. Alice gave her a funny look, "What's up with Lily? You like someone?" Unfortunately.

"Maybe," she answered meekly. Julie, Gwen and Alice turned there attention to her immediately.

"Who?" Gwen asked eagerly, her big blue eyes shining.

"Uh…"

"Girls, more wand waving and less chitchatting!" Professor Flitwick said frowning in their direction. They were doing enlargement charms today—non verbal of course. They weren't difficult, and Lily easily grew her marble to the size of a human head, "Very good Miss Evans, ten points for Gryffindor," he chirped happily. Then with a sudden squeal he ran off, heading toward a pair in the back, Kira Livingston and Andy Bravo, who had tentacles growing out of his head. Lily chuckled to herself before Gwen had tapped her on her shoulder.

"Ew, it's not Bravo is it?"

"No, but if you see someone with tentacles growing out of their head, you tend to stare."

"Fine, who is it?" Gwen demanded.

"Er…"

"Lily," Alice began. Her honey eyes were dancing with curiosity now.

"I'm going crazy. I'm literally going insane if I say this."

"Oh Merlin, you like Potter. Holy sh—"

"Gwen, not so loud!" Lily hissed, glancing around franticly. Gwen smirked.

"I knew it! I knew it! Julie that's another five gallons right here!" Gwen cheered.

"Lily are you serious?" Julie exclaimed loudly, that most of the class looked up to see who was yelling.

"Yes Julianne?" Sirius called from across the room. No one paid poor Sirius any attention. They'd become used to ignoring him whenever he brought up that old joke.

"Will you all shut up before someone hears you? All I need is for him to know so he can rub it all in my face…" Lily hissed, under her breath.

"So, when did you start to like him?" Gwen asked gleefully.

"I don't know! He's so…urgh! I hate him. Oh, and it doesn't help that he has a girlfriend."

"That he hates," Julie piped up.

"Lily you've got to tell him. He might faint in shock though…" Alice noted thoughtfully. Lily rolled her eyes at her friends.

"I can't do that! He has a girlfriend. Besides, I don't like him that much. Just a little. I just felt guilty not telling you all—"

"She's in love," Gwen stated matter-of-factly. Alice and Julie nodded in agreement.

"Love? Ha, yeah right. Okay so maybe, just maybe I like him… a teensy bit. It's no big deal. Anyway, I need to find a date. Guess what else? Petunia's getting married." Everyone was silent until Gwen burst into laughter.

"Your sister?" Lily nodded. Gwen giggled again, "How did that old cow snag a man?" Lily smiled slightly, "Urgh, I remember I saw her once. She called me a freak and told me that witches still deserved to be burned at the stake. Yes, very pleasant girl, your sister was." They all laughed, making Lily feel slightly better as Charms ended.

Everyone had gotten extra homework except Lily who was the only one out of the group that ever completed the spell. Gwen hadn't even picked up her wand.

"Flitwick gave us extra homework."

"It's not my fault you didn't do anything the whole class period. They were enlargement charms for goodness sakes!"

"Oh, Lily, it's not my fault I'm not perfect. We were too busy decapitating your messed up love life."

"Oh, because yours is running so smoothly?"

"At least Sirius doesn't have a girlfriend." They bantered all the way to the Great Hall. Lily immediately whacked her in the arm.

"Shut up…they're here," Lily hissed as the Marauders sat next to them. James took a seat beside her.

"Hey Lily flower."

"Don't start James." Just be cool. Act normal.

"Start what?"

"Being…you. I can't deal with it today. I'm a little stressed." And it's all your bloody fault.

"Oh, your sister's wedding? Still don't have a date? Don't forget, I am available."

"Don't forget…you have a girlfriend." James looked at her strangely, then cursed.

"Oh yeah…I really do need to end that don't I?"

"No kidding," said Lily with an eye roll. James frowned, he looked like he was thinking hard. Wow. Major accomplishment there, "Oh, and speak of the devil." Michelle Shepherd walked over, not looking too pleased.

"James, where have you been? And why are you sitting by her?" she threw Lily a nasty look. Lily rolled her eyes. Michelle wasn't a threat whatsoever. All she ever did was sneer and give her side glances whenever she so much as talked to James. She didn't own him for the love of Merlin!

"Oh, I don't know. We kinda have this weird relationship called,_ friendship."_Michelle gaped at him for a moment.

"Right, whatever, just come on, I have something for you Jamsie," she said winking. Her sweet and sticky voice was back, and Lily held back her laughter. However Alice and her made eye contact and it was almost too much.

"Oh…good, er…I needed to talk to you about something actually. Let's go. See you Lily." Lily just smirked and gave him a little wave as he sulked after Michelle. As soon as he was gone, she burst into laughter.

"He's a horrible boyfriend."

"Why?" Alice asked frowning, "You don't like him anymore?" Lily glared at her friend.

"No, he forgets he still had a girlfriend. See? James Potter is not boyfriend material."

"I know, I've been saying it for years, but you never gave me a chance either, Evans," Sirius Black said cheekily. Lily ignored him.

"Alice, don't even say anything."

"About what?" Sirius asked curiously. Alice giggled.

"Er—I'll go find Frank, shan't I?" She rushed off before Sirius could ask her about anything. Sirius cocked an eyebrow.

"What, may I inquire, was that Evans?"

"That? Oh nothing—"

"REMUS! Stop lying to me! When you've got enough balls to tell me the truth then come and find me!" Julie bellowed a few seats down. She stormed out of the Great Hall, ignoring Remus who raced after her. Sirius blinked.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, Remus' excuses, but Julie doesn't know yet…I told him he should tell her but—"

"Tell her what?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowing.

"You know," Lily said. She lowered her voice, "a werewo—"

"You know?" Sirius hissed with a look of pure shock on his face. Lily nodded slowly, "How? Since when? Remus knows—"

"Sirius, I've known for a while. Since fifth year actually, when Remus and I worked as Prefects. He didn't know I knew until this past year. Last month really…" Sirius blinked.

"Oh." Sirius seem to calm a bit, but still looked doubtfully at Lily.

"Peter, you can't possibly stuff more then 20 marshmallows in your mouth it's impossible!" Gwen said loudly from a few seats down, "Unless you use magic, but that's cheating.

"Eh, no, Pete can, don't doubt his marshmallow stuffing skills Gwen." Gwen rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath.

"Fine, I don't feel like talking to you all anyway," Gwen said stiffly. She smirked at Sirius' face before stalking out.

"Today is just not a good day for relationships."

"Well, technically, you two don't have a relationship."

"Don't remind me," Sirius said glumly, "I don't get it. Why does she want to be friends? Lily, you're her best friend, you'll talk to her, won't you?" Lily paused, frowning. Sure Sirius was nice, but…he wasn't what she'd consider…the best boyfriend. Lily knew he was a player, and she wasn't about to be the one responsible for getting hurt.

"Sirius, how much do you like her?"

"What?" he asked, taken by surprise by the question.

"I don't want her getting hurt. Listen, I know you're a good person and all, but when it comes to dating…dating and Qudditch, you're ruthless." Sirius looked gob smacked.

"Er…okay. Listen Lily, maybe—er—I've had lots of girlfriends, but Gwen…she's Gwen! She's fabulous, I mean, not that your not but—"

"Are you trying to say you like her?" Lily asked, cutting off his babble. Sirius nodded sheepishly.

"A lot…er…well, don't make me sound desperate or anything if you repeat this to her, it's just…she's so…" Sirius smiled, "beautiful."

"Oh shut up, you're going to make me gag."

"Someone's bitter, looks like I'm not the only one having love problems." Lily scowled.

"I need a date for a stupid wedding, and I'm stuck." Sirius grinned. Uh oh.

"Well. I mean, if Gwen wasn't the jealous little hotheaded angel she is, I would offer, nothing more then a friend of course. You could try Remus but since Julie is mad at him, she might be mad at you for making contact." Sirius glanced to his right where Peter was eating, "I mean Peter is always an option," he said laughing, "Just kidding, getting down to business. That leaves one friend who happens to be breaking up with the toad he called his girlfriend—"

"Sirius!" Lily hissed.

"Aw, Gwen told me you all hate her."

"I don't hate her…" Lily lied

"Sorry Saint Lillian."

"My name is not Lillian either," Lily snapped, "And no, I'm not going out with James!"

"Thinking about him, are you?"

"What? No, you just were listing off the Marauders so I assumed it was him! Besides, I've already rejected his offer." Sirius just shrugged.

"Okay, whatever, who's getting married?"

"My sister."

"Oh. That's nice."

"Not really." lily stated. Sirius smirked.

"Well, you know, the good thing about taking James as a date is he won't hesitate to cause mayhem if you want him to. You know, liven the party up a bit." Lily raised an eyebrow, "Er, or you could show him off. You know, he isn't ugly. I mean, nothing compared to me but since I'm off the market…" Lily hit him in the shoulder.

"I don't know what Gwen sees in you." Sirius' grey eyes sparkled.

"She sees something? That's a good start." Lily rolled her eyes.

"You are pathetic." Sirius just grinned cheekily.

"Think about it Lilykins, I'll see you around. Comin' Wormtail?" Peter glanced up then looked down at his plate that still had half a sandwich before grudgingly following Sirius out. Lily sighed when she realized she was sitting alone now that all her friends had left. Shrugging, she finally began to eat her turkey sandwich.

**A/N: Sorry, I'm not sure if I liked how I ended this, but it'll have to do just for you. I was looking at some of my last chapters, and I realized, I spell things wrong quite often. I'm sorry if my grammer isn't all that great, so I'm apoligizing for future mistakes. Sorry! Read and Review as usual! I love them!**


	10. Just a Sirius Joke

Chapter 10— Just a Sirius Joke

**Disclaimer: (these really get tedious to write) I don't own Harry Potter. End of story. ******

A few days later, Lily sat in the common room with Julie and Gwen (Alice was no where to be found). Julie was in a bad mood because Remus had gone to visit his supposedly 'sick' mother. There was silence between them, but it was okay. Julie was looking out the window sulkily, Gwen was reading Witch Weekly, and Lily was doing her Arithmancy essay.

"It's a full moon tonight," Julie stated randomly. Gwen didn't comment while Lily just nodded.

"I know."

"Remember when we did Astronomy? I kinda miss that class, looking up at the stars…" Julie wandered off. Five minutes later she stood up, "I'm going on a walk.

"'k." Gwen said without looking up.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked glancing at Julie from her notes.

"I dunno…"

"You're not going outside are you?"

"Maybe I am," Julie snapped.

"I'm just saying…you know it's…er…freezing outside." Lily supplied, hoping Julie wouldn't go out at this time of night.

"I own a cloak Lily."

"You'll still be cold, besides you'll get caught. It's past curfew and—" Lily attempted Julie left without another word, "Julie, wait!"

"Ah, let her go Lily, she needs to be left alone." Lily glared at the oh-so-calm Gwen.

"Not outside she doesn't…you never know what's out there…"

Remus.

Her boyfriend.

Who was a werewolf.

Everything just had to reach an extreme, didn't it?

"Lily, stop being overdramatic," Gwen said with a yawn.

"I'll be back."

"Lilllyy! Come on!" Lily didn't listen to whatever Gwen had to say but rushed out to see Julie had already taken off. Sprinting down the corridor, she almost ran into Professor McGonagall who was reprimanding none other then James Potter.

"…abusing your Head privileges Mr. Potter and—ah, Miss Evans, what are you doing out of bed?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. James looked very annoyed at the moment.

"Oh, well, looking for… James, Professor," Lily lied quickly, while trying to decipher the weird looks James was giving her.

"Oh?" McGonagall asked quizzically, James nodded quickly, then gave Lily another wide eyed look. Lily thought about letting him get in trouble, but quickly abandoned the idea. She might need his help.

"Yes, we had Head Duties you see—"

"Told you I wasn't lying!" James said quickly. Lily narrowed her eyes. What was James doing?

"Why would you be lying?"

"Don't worry, I wasn't." They held eye contact for a while until Professor McGonagall interrupted it.

"Fine then. Go on, finish up your rounds. However, your patrols are to be together. You're not still having problems working together, are you?" her eyes narrowing at the pair of them.

"We're managing," Lily answered smoothly.

"Very well, I apologize for not believing you Mr. Potter, goodnight Miss Evans."

"Goodnight Professor," they chorused. Waiting until out of earshot they hissed in unison, "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Julie."

"I'm looking for Sirius."

"Why?" they both asked.

"Julie was going to go outside. You know…outside..." James' eyes widened.

"What? Well, why are we here, we need to stop her!"

"I know!" Lily snapped starting down the corridor.

"Wait," James stopped her "how do you know?" Lily just rolled her eyes looking impatient. Was it really that hard?

"Known for ages."

"But—" James looked like he wanted to question but just then they heard a voice down the corridor.

"Prongs! There you are!" Both of them swiveled around to see Sirius Black strut to them looking pleased.

"Sirius, you're late, c'mon. Oh, wait, we got to get Julie, she's wandering around outside—" James started, Sirius paled slightly.

"What?"

"Yeah, hopefully she won't be down by the willow but she'll be fine since he's still in the shack-"

"Unless that git lets him out. Shit we need to go—"

"What are you talking about Sirius?" James asked frowning, "Peter wouldn't do that—"

"No, Snape! He's down there right now! Thinks he can get his slimy nose into our business. He doesn't know what he's getting into. Can't believe he listened to me when I told him to go in there. Stupid git…"

**(A/N: Okayyyyyy before you start, remember this chapter was prewritten like 3 years ago. So I didn't really take into account that this happened in 5th year, please don't be mad darlings!)**

"Sirius! You did what?" Lily shouted.

"What were you thinking? Damn it Sirius! Lily find Julie, Sirius you better get your ass over there and hope Snape doesn't bleedin' die!" James yelled. Lily bit her lip as she looked at the furious James and the suddenly worried Sirius. James was off at a sprint without another word leaving Lily and Sirius there. Lily just looked at him in absolute shock.

"I got to go…aw shit…" he cursed, heading after James. Lily stood in shock until she remembered Julie. Then she began to run franticly after them.

It was surprising that she didn't get caught. Lily wasn't even trying to be silent and sneaky. She slammed enough doors behind her to wake the entire castle, but not so much as Peeves showed up. Outside, the chill December air bit at her. Had Julie really come out here without a cloak?

"Julie?" Lily called. Her teeth were chattering already, "Julie Maloney! JULIE!" She walked around down by the inky black lake that had begun to freeze over, "Julie!" A thought crossed her mind. Hagrid's. Running towards the cabin, she stumbled over herself a few times before reaching the door. She knocked impatiently, and she could here Hagrid's loud booming voice.

"Hold yer horses. Who is it?" said a rough voice from inside.

"Lily, Hagrid open up!" He swung open the door with a big grin on his face.

"Eh, Lily, watch ya doin' out here? Aren't you a bit cold?" Hagrid asked, greeting her warmly. Wow she forgot how tall Hagrid really was. She felt as if she had to look directly upwards to speak to him.

"Is Julie here?"

"Matter 'a fact she is. Julie, look who's come 'n' found ya."

"Oh, hey Lily," Julie answered faintly. She smiled slightly, "You were right. It was freezing. I was just about to head back. It is past curfew after all." Julie supplied, Hagrid chuckled.

"Who'd a thought you two would be a bunch of rule breakers…'specially you Lily. Yer Head Girl and all, aren't ya?"

"Yes, but, Julie here, doesn't always abide by the rules as much as people think." Lily quipped.

"'N obviously, neither d'you."

"That's not true—"

"Thanks for the tea Hagrid," Julie said over Lily's voice, "It was nice to see you."

"Well, nice of yer to stop bye. You be off too Lily?" Lily nodded, "Al'righ, don' get inter too much trouble now. Watch out for Filch and that ruddy cat of his." Julie laughed while Lily forced a smile. She was full of anxiety on the inside. What were Sirius and James doing? Sirius couldn't have done what she was thinking he'd done. Sure he hated Snape, but to kill him? Gwen would be furious if she found out. And she would certainly find out.

"C'mon Julie, let's hurry." Lily said franticly. She kept looking in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Julie asked stopping.

"I'm freezing, c'mon—" Julie didn't budge. The cold didn't seem to effect her, "Julie—" Then a loud howl could be heard across the grounds. Julie turned slowly to Lily who was as pale as a ghost.

"Lily…was that a…" Lily nodded, "Werewolf?" Julie choked. Lily nodded again. Julie looked up towards the sky where the white orb hang in the starlit sky.

"Julie, c'mon." Julie nodded and the two of them ran to the school, neither looking back behind them. Once they reached inside, Lily turned to Julie, "Julie, go to the common room. Gwen's up there. I need to talk to James."

"James?" Julie looked at Lily as if she'd just dropped from the sky.

"Yes. I'll explain everything later." Julie shook her head.

"No way, right now. Why do you need to talk to him? What's wrong?" Lily sighed and decided Julie was not going to drop this.

"Sirius did something stupid. James went to try to go fix it—more stupid. He's going to go get himself killed, along with Sirius and Snape."

"Severus Snape?"

"The one and only. Actually, get Dumbledore. Tell him that Snape is down by the Whomping Willow and James went to stop him. He should know what that means."

"But—"

"Julie please. Someone needs to get him."

"Fine," Julie relented quickly, "I'll be back with him in a minute."

"Thanks," Lily turned to leave.

"Be careful Lily!" Julie shouted after het, Lily smiled.

"Always am." Lily said with a wink, Julie tried to laugh but it sounded forced. They nodded and both took off in their separate directions. Lily sprinted down the Great Hall still wondering how she wasn't caught yet, once she got outside Lily ran towards the Whomping Willow. Now that she could see it clearly, there was no one in sight. Oh God, hopfully she wasn't too late for anything. What if someone had gotten bitten? What if—

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large, black, shaggy dog jumping toward her. It nudged her gently.

"Right…a dog. Fantastic. Listen, there's a werewolf out there. You might want to go." As Lily tried to walk away, closer, it bit onto her cloak, in sort of a protective manor trying to drag her away, as if it knew the danger, "Hey, quit it. Don't worry about me. I know what's—"

"Snape, you bloody idiot, RUN!" a voice hollered, another howl could be heard from not far off and suddenly James and Snape appeared, James had shoved Snape out of the Whomping Willow. Snape didn't need telling twice, he ran right passed her without even a glance. That's when James spotted her with the dog tugging on her robes, "Lily…what the hell are you doing here?"

"You're the one that just ran in face to face with a werewolf—" Lily started.

"GO!" James demanded.

"Only if you come with." That's when she saw the long, slender wolf emerging from the willow, growling. For a moment, Lily's heart stopped. The werewolf had faced them, it's yellow eyes making contact. Lily froze. The werewolf let out a howl which seemed to jump everyone else into action. The dog immediately abandoned Lily to go to the wolf that was about to advance. Lily gave a scream. That was Remus. Remus Lupin, the smart, sensitive boy who was shyer then the other Marauders, the one with the sandy hair and blue eyes, the prefect… Remus. He was the one that had to be turned into this awful beast once a month. James didn't take time to yell at her instead he pulled her by the hand and practically dragged her into the building since she could barely keep up.

"Lily, stay here. I have to—"

"Dumbledore's coming." Lily informed.

"Oh no, where's Snape?" James groaned, "Sirius is such a bloody idiot. Why would he tell Snape? Snape of all people! Then send him out there to get bitten…or even killed? Oh yeah, brilliant Sirius, bloody fantastic! A joke…that's what this was to him, a fu—"

"James, calm down, Dumbledore's going to take care of this—"

"Okay so everyone's fine but Snape still knows. He knows Remus' secret and—" James paused, frowning, "Did you find Julie?" he asked abruptly.

"Yes, she went to get Dumbledore while I went to make sure you didn't killed!"

"He's such an idiot. What the hell is his problem? What was he thinking? Lily, wait here. I'll be back with Sirius soon."

"James—"

"Lily, please, stay. I can guarantee I'll be fine. I can do something you can't and no, I'm not trying to be arrogant for once. I'll explain it later. I promise. Besides I don't have time to listen to a lecture about breaking the wizarding law."

"Wait, you…WHAT?" Lily yelled. James just grinned slightly before taking off. Lily angrily kicked the wall.

"Ah, little Head Girlies shouldn't be doing such things," came he oily voice of Peeves.

"Peeves, go away!" Lily shouted. Peeves just grinned madly.

"Where is Potter going? Out of bounds? That's against the rules." He swooped down, "Now, for his own good I should—"

"Miss Evans."

"Students out of bed sir," Peeves rang out before rushing off with a bang. Lily straightened at the sound of Dumbledore's voice. At his heel was none other then Julie who still looked miffed.

"Professor! James just went back, there's a werewolf. Severus saw, and I don't know where Sirius is—" For the first time ever, Lily realized Dumbledore's blue eyes were filled with worry. His voice however, was remarkably calm.

"Miss Evans, Miss Maloney, I need you both to go up to the Gryffindor Tower immediately. Yes, I know you have your own common room Miss Evans, but I think it'd be best if you stayed there tonight. Can I take your word that you will not leave?"

"But—" Lily began.

"Miss Evans?" his blue eyes gazed at her for a long moment, and Lily relented. After exchanging a glance with Julie, they both nodded halfheartedly.

"Yes Professor," Lily said dully. Without another word, Dumbledore had swept out the doors into the chilly night. For a moment there was silence as Lily thought about everything that had just happened in simply twenty minutes. Julie broke it impatiently.

"What the hell is going on?" Julie demanded.

"We should probably go to the common room—"

"Don't you try to—"

"Julie, it's important, we can't afford someone overhearing. I guess it's best if we tell Gwen too. And Alice if she's back yet." Julie pursed her lips slightly and followed Lily silently back to the Gryffindor Common room. However, they couldn't find Gwen or Alice anywhere.

"Where d'you suppose she's gotten to?" Julie asked. Lily shrugged, feeling slightly worried. She wouldn't have gone looking for them, would she? "Okay, whatever, just tell me now," Julie insisted. Julie dragged her up to the empty girl's dormitory, "Now what was going on? Why were Sirius and James out with a werewolf? And how does Severus Snape fit into all this?"

"Okay, well, Sirius thought it'd be funny to tell Snape a secret, one that led straight to the lair of a werewolf."

"Lair? I didn't know they had lairs. I thought they were just bloodthirsty animals that roamed the forest biting innocent people," Julie said with a hint of disgust in her voice. Lily closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. She couldn't tell her now, she really couldn't.

"Julie, don't say that. It's not the werewolf's fault. It can't control himself. The rest of the month, they're a normal, functioning human being. I can't believe you out of all people would be discriminatory towards them!" Julie was slightly taken aback by this.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were suddenly fighting for werewolves rights," Julie snapped. She sighed, "Sorry Lily, okay, so how did they know there was a werewolf?"

"The werewolf told them I suppose." Julie gave her a look of disbelief.

"So they know someone who's a werewolf?"

"Exactly, then Sirius, the biggest idiot in the world, thought it'd be funny if he told Snape where he could find out this person's secret. Snape didn't know he was a werewolf, but he knew something was fishy—"

"So Snape knows this person well too?" Lily nodded. Julie frowned, and Lily plowed on.

"I had just found James in the hallway, and I asked him to help me find you because it wasn't safe for you to be wandering around tonight—"

"Wait, do you know who the werewolf is?" Julie asked surprised.

"Er—"

"They go to our school! Oh God…who is it?" C'mon Julie, figure it out. Think.

"—then Sirius showed up and told us about the funny prank he pulled. James flipped out and went to go save Snape, which he did, and then he had to go save Sirius' arse as well since Sirius hadn't come back—" Julie however wasn't listening. She closed her eyes.

"Remus' mother is very sick."

"What?"

"He always would visit her a lot." Julie's voice sounded odd, far away. "You know, every year he misses school about once every month. Actually, exactly once a month," she said quietly. She was looking down at the ground now, "Funny. It's a full moon and all…"

"Julie—" Julie looked up at Lily, her dark eyes brimming with tears, "It's okay. He's still the same person." Julie just shook her head violently.

"Lily, you don't get it. He's a werewolf. I've…I've never known one before but everyone knows they're—they're monsters."

"Julie! Don't ever say that about him again. He's not a monster, he's—"

"I can't believe it. Remus…he's…how…why didn't I know? How long have you known?" Julie demanded suddenly.

"Since fifth year," Lily offered quickly, "Nothing has changed between us, except that we're better friends. I tried to get him to tell you before, but he was too afraid that he would lose you. I never thought it was a justified fear…until now." Julie looked away, sniffling.

"You're not dating him Lily."

"So? We're friends. He's still the same lovable person. Remus is Remus, even if he does have the horrible curse of being a werewolf. It isn't his fault. He was bitten as a child. Have you even considered what's it's like to be him? How he has to deal with the discrimination everyday? You're supposed to be understanding and—"

"Sorry Lily if not everyone is as perfect as you!" Julie snapped. She strode over to her own four poster bed and shut the curtains violently. Lily watched her friend disappear.

"Julie—"

"Go away Lily, I need to think," came a mumbled Julie from behind the curtins. Lily sadly left, knowing that she couldn't make anything better. Only Remus could, and he was roaming the forest at the moment.

**A/N: I feel so bad to do this to Remus! Don't hate me! But don't worry I'll have some romantic stuff either next chapter or the one after, and yes yes yell at me correct me but I'm too last tonight but I do like the way I made it happen if it was 5th year. Tell me what you think of it. Read and Review.**


	11. Animagi

**Disclaimer: This really gets annoying and repetitive but I do **NOT** own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 11—Animagi

For the first time in history, the Marauders were in a fight.

A _big_ one.

James wasn't talking to Sirius.

Remus was in the hospital wing, ashamed, and isolated himself from everyone.

Peter dutifully followed James anywhere which left Sirius pretty much alone.

Gwen had found out about the story before Lily had gotten the chance to tell her. It turned out she met up with Sirius and James (who weren't speaking to each other) in the hallway around midnight. She chose to ignore Sirius for the time being seeing as he was the one that everyone else seemed to be upset with. Lily was unsure what was going on with her. However, she was still confused about everything, but she hadn't managed to chase James down until the following night.

"James, don't you have something to tell me?" she asked, once she'd cornered him in the Head's Common room.

"Wha—oh, yeah, I broke up with Shepherd today," James said distractedly. Lily grinned to herself and tried to hide her pleasure in this news.

"Oh, that's wonderful," she said dryly, "but that's not what I was referring to. Do you recall telling me you had broken the wizarding law the other night?" Lily asked, her eyes flashing slightly. Breaking school rules were quite different from the law. Just like how Azkaban was quite different from detentions. James cursed, "Potter…"

"It's no big deal. No one knows except the Marauders…oh, and I think Gwen knows now too because of," James eyes narrowed, "_him_."

"Sirius has been miserable all day. I mean, I know why you're mad, but you will forgive him. Won't you?"

"If Remus can, I can," James said stiffly. James shook his head, "I mean, what if Snape had gotten bitten? Remus would've never have forgiven himself. Or if he died…" He trailed off leaving the thought in the air.

"It didn't happen James. You stopped it from happening, remember?" Lily reminded with a small smile, James sighed, "So what did last night have to do with breaking the wizarding law?" Lily persisted. James looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Ah, well, you see, maybe it's better if I tell you it in a story. You won't be as mad if you know the reason behind it."

"James—" But James began;

"So, second year, we finally confirmed our suspicions about Remus and confronted him. A bit shocked, but we were all good with it. Poor guy, he thought we'd kick him out of the dorm. So, we felt awful every month when he left to go do his transformations. We couldn't do anything about it. Well, we're Marauders. There's nothing we couldn't do." Lily snorted at this point, "Okay, so it sounds a bit corny…okay really corny. Anyway, we researched for a while. And yes it took forever—especially once I was banned from the library. Sirius had to bring the books up to the common room with Peter. Finally we found what we needed. Werewolves don't effect animals." Lily waited but he just sat there, grinning in self pride.

"And?"

"So, we decided we'd become Animagi." Lily blinked at him, then she laughed.

"Animagi? Oh come on Potter…that's really advanced magic. Second years would get themselves killed trying." James looked a bit offended but he recovered just as quick.

"Exactly why we waited until our third year…still turned out to be a fiasco though, now that I think about…"

"James, are you saying you all tried to become illegal Animagi?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"No, we didn't try. We are."

Right.

And I'm in a romantic relationship with Sirius's mother.

"Really?" James nodded, and gave a sheepish smile.

"What!" Lily yelled, "Are you stupid? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's what Remus said when we told him. He was shocked we accomplished it. What can I say, we're bloody brilliant—"

"James!"

"What?"

"You…you can't just go around becoming unregistered Animagi! It's against the law. You know, the one that can put you in jail." James just grinned and plopped down on the large, squishy red sofa.

"Evans, keep your hair on. It's not like we parade the fact that we're unregistered Animagi. Even Dumbledore doesn't know. Clever aren't we?" Lily just gave a curt nod, and they fell into silence for a few moments.

"So you really can?" asked a dumbfounded Lily. Bloody hell. How had Potter and his friends managed this one? Maybe they were smarter then she gave them credit for.

"I can show you if you'd like," James suggested with a sly grin taking a step closer.

Goodness Merlin he was looking quite fine this evening.

Well he does _every_ evening.

He's just so… oh bullocks…why hadn't she ever said yes when he had liked her?

Gah! No. He just told her he's an animal and she's drooling over him….

Urg! Not the time.

His hazel eyes sparkled mischievously from behind his thin frames. She found herself just staring at him until he broke her concentration, "Er—are we having a staring contest."

"No—yes…just show me!" James just grinned.

"Happily, milady." He took a step back so he was a good distance from her. Lily's eyes widened in shock as the James Potter before her turned into a beautiful, gleaming stag. He didn't transform like shed imagine him to, well the only transformation she's seen is McGonagall in Transfiguration but this was just incredible. Lily approached him slowly, and it nuzzled her hand. Lily let out a terrified giggle.

"Godric…James, it's you isn't it?" The stag just galloped around the room before returning to her. Lily patted it's head, "I think you look cuter like this actually." The stag lifted it's head up, made a small sound of protest before turning back into James.

"Hey!" James said. Lily just giggled. She quite liked James as a stag, it was easier to concentrate without drooling.

"Wow…I can't believe it. So Sirius and Peter are too?"

"Yep, Sirius is a black dog, and Peter is a rat."

"A rat?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. She tried to sustain a giggle. James nodded, and Lily just rolled her eyes, "Right. So, when did you do it then?"

"Fifth year."

Lily nodded, still slightly in shock. This was a big secret, especially for a seventeen year old. There was a long silence, it wasn't uncomfortable, they were just both thinking, "You know, I reckon we should visit Remus."

James frowned, "Now?"

Lily shrugged, "Has Julie visited him yet?"

James shook his head, "He asked about her though," James said, looking at Lily carefully for her reaction. Lily just sighed. Julie was being unreasonable and stupid toward the whole 'werewolf' thing. Lily didn't see what the big deal was. It wasn't as if it changed Remus' personality.

"Julie's being stupid. She won't talk about it, and I doubt she's going to talk to him anytime soon. For some reason she's terrified that he's…you know, and I don't get it. I mean, that's so unlike her. I guess I just don't get it," Lily repeated. James nodded, obviously thinking.

"I think we just have to let her come to her senses. I mean, after all, you can't force your belief on her. She just needs to adjust." Lily frowned at this. That's what her parents had always told her about Petunia. Her parents never got to see if they were right. In fact, magic had been their downfall. Maybe Petunia was right after all. She didn't want to think about. Neither that, or the wedding. The wedding…the wedding she still didn't have a date for! Groaning, Lily put her head in her hands. Who would she ask? Never mind, she didn't need a date anyhow. Petunia just would never let her live it down. Besides, no one knew about her family…she couldn't bear the idea of admitting it to her friends. At school it'd been easy enough. Schoolwork and other problems kept her mind off such thoughts…

"…Lily?"

Oh right. Stupid Potter.

Who isn't all that stupid really is still here.

Breathe.

"Are you okay? Don't worry about Julie…"

"I'm not. You're right, she'll come around," Lily sat next to James on the couch. God, he smelt good. Wait. Bad Lily, bad Lily… Eventually she leaned against his shoulder, and they sat there in silence. After a while, a question Lily had wondering ever since he'd mentioned it popped into her head.

"So you broke up with Michelle?" She asked casually, James looked down at her. Lily found herself getting lost in his soft, hazel gaze. She abruptly looked away, towards the fire.

"Yeah. About time, eh?"

"I know…but, why'd you go out with her in the first place. You know, if you didn't like her?" Lily asked, frowning. James shifted, obviously uncomfortable now, "I know the night before…was…it wasn't a big deal or anything but—" James cut her off abruptly. It seemed neither of them had forgotten about the night they'd...er...kissed.

"I don't know. I thought you hated me, and I went to the common room to tell the guys how I'd screwed it up again, and she was there. You know how she is…throwing herself on me. She kinda asked me out, and I said yes. I don't know what I was thinking, except that once I said yes I knew I was just being an idiot—"

"That's for sure," Lily muttered under her breath.

"Hey!"

"What? You were being an idiot," said Lily, grinning up at him, "So, you're done with her now?" James nodded. Lily was silent for a moment, trying to pose her question correctly, "Good. Because I had a favor to ask of you…" James looked at her in surprise.

"Oh yeah?" James grinned. Lily turned around so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Yeah…would you like to…er…be my date to Petunia's wedding?" Lily shut her eyes tight expecting denial, because really? Why would he just except after he spent all these years buggering after her. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder and she turned around, almost immediately James pressed his lips lightly to hers. Once they broke apart he smiled at her, and she was probably grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah," He breathed "Yeah, I will."

**A/N: Yeah! Okay… I know I know supppperrr short chapter I might update tonight again cause I have no life, so Julies being stupid.. Whats new? But Lily asked James! I bet you liked the little rondevou at the end ;) Anyway, thanks for your reviews, they make me feel so good and make me want to update quicker! Thanks again, keep up the reviews guys!**


	12. Makeups and Breakups

**Disclaimer: If I were J.K Rowling, would I be here? No. I would be in a mansion certainly NOT writing harry potter fan fiction. In other words, I don't own it.**

Chapter 12-Makeups, Breakups and Breakdowns

Okay, so he was only accompanying her as a friend, nonetheless even though that kiss said more the git still insisted on a 'friendship'.

_Bloody_

_Hell…._

_Gah!_

But still The handsome James Potter was finally, finally going on a date with the lovely Lily Evans…

Boy life can be good.

**_james_**

The next morning, James was feeling great Lily Evans had asked him! James Potter the man thats been tottering her with any chance to go out with him asked _him_ to be her date to her sisters wedding. When James kissed her he thought he ruined it, so he thought he'd fix it up by saying 'but only as friends'

What the bloody hell were you thinking James?

_Gah!_

But still excited nonetheless he felt the need to tell one of his friends, but he just so happened to run into find his fellow Marauders—until he remembered he was mad at one of them. Way to crumple his good mood. He could still tell Remus and Peter though! He ran to the Gryffindor common room and paused when he entered. Sirius was dozing off slightly in one of the stuffed armchairs by the fire, quite alone. It was still early and being a weekend, most people were sleeping in. James stood there for a while, as if trying to decide to wake him up. He settled with a loud cough. Sirius shook slightly, his head lifting and turning towards James. There was a moment of awkward silence where they both stared at each other, neither knowing what to say.

"Why are you here?" Sirius asked finally.

"To tell Remus and Peter something." James quipped, Sirius' face darkened visibly, but he nodded and turned away. James shifted uneasily. Sirius was still his best mate, even if he was mad at him.

"You know I'm sorry. I've never been so sorry about anything in my life," Sirius said suddenly, his voice was low and quiet.

"Why are you telling me that?" James snapped, feeling angry for some reason, "It's Remus you should be apologizing to." Sirius turned back around and stood up.

"You think I haven't? I've been apologizing whenever I see him! I know he isn't ready to forgive me yet…I don't deserve it really…"

"That's for sure," James said rather coldly. Immediately he felt sorry for it by the look on Sirius' face, "I didn't mean that…he will forgive you. He's Remus, but I think he's rather stressed out about Julie and such." Sirius nodded. James didn't know why he suddenly felt like comforting Sirius. He didn't deserve to be comforted…or that's what he told himself.

"I know, I feel bad about that too since it's my fault she found out. Gwen is avoiding me, even though Dumbledore made Snape swear he wouldn't…that slimy git knows his secret! It doesn't help that you're mad at me on top of all of this. It's not like I don't feel any remorse. I don't care about Snape, but I wouldn't have done it if I had thought it would effect Remus…I just wasn't thinking." James snorted, "Listen—"

"Sirius, I told Lily we were illegal Animagi." Sirius blinked. 'Why did I just say that?' James thought.

"Oh."

"Did you tell anyone?" James asked. Sirius shook his head slowly.

"You told Evans?" Sirius asked, shocked. James nodded, "You told Lily Evans?"

"Yes."

"Why the hell did you tell Evans? I mean, it's not like we're breaking school rules, it's the law and she is going to tell—"

"Sirius! She isn't going to tell anyone!" Sirius gave James a skeptical look.

"No one? Not her friends…not Dumbledore?"

"Nope. She promised. She actually wasn't as mad as I thought she'd be." Sirius still looked unconvinced but chose not to say anything else. James wondered if he should tell him, "In fact, she's not mad at me at all anymore. We're going on a date."

There he said it.

Finally.

After all these years…

"What?"

"Lily and I—"

"You're going out?" Sirius yelped.

"No, not exactly—"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're going—"

"What did you ask?"

"She actually—"

"When did this happen?"

"SIRIUS QUIT INTERRUPTING ME!" James yelled. Sirius shut up immediately. Then he smirked.

"Sorry, go on with your story."

"Well, Lily asked me—don't interrupt," James added when Sirius opened his mouth. Sirius sulked like a little kid, and James repressed a chuckle. "—to go to her sister's wedding with her as her date—but I said we'd go as friends…"

"Why the bloody hell would you say that?" Sirius demanded. James sighed

"Thats what I keep asking myself Padfoot… Oh and I kissed her." He added grinning. Sirius gave a bark like laugh

"Yeah some friend you are, mate" Sirius chuckled shaking his head.

"But still! I mean, finally…I think I've really grown on her…or something like that…" . He smirked and then threw his head back in laughter. James frowned. What was so funny?

Finally, Sirius stopped laughing and grinned widely, "Well done mate." James wasn't sure if he was still mad or not, but it didn't seem to matter any more. They were on talking terms now at least. In a way, it was all because of Lily, "I can't believe it. To be honest, I never thought this day would come. I thought you would end up alone because you would keep asking Evans out even after she got married…" Sirius chuckled.

"Ha, ha…you know, we're not going out yet," James reminded, although he had a large grin plastered on his face now, "I got to tell the guys, c'mon." Sirius hesitated.

"I'll just stay down here. I don't think Remus wants to see too much of me yet. Besides, I'm trying to catch Gwen before she goes to breakfast." James nodded and gave his friend a smile before racing up the stairs.

Transfiguration on Monday morning wasn't Lily's idea of fun. No, it was quite the opposite. Lily sat next to Alice, the only one who wasn't sulking this morning.

"So…Julie still isn't talking to him?" Alice asked in a undertone voice. They were sitting in the back of the classroom. Lily shifted her attention towards McGonagall. Since she wasn't looking toward the back…

"No, and did Gwen tell you?" Lily asked. Alice shook her head, "Sirius asked her out…she said no."

"Just because of that?" Alice asked rather loudly. Lily gave her a sharp glance and McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Once Miss Walker and Miss Evans are done talking we may continue this lesson." Lily flushed and face front, taking her quill again while throwing Alice a dirty look.

"Sorry Professor," Lily said quickly. Alice just rolled her eyes but turned her attention back to McGonagall as well. There was no way Lily would allow the two of them to hold a conversation until class was over.

Once the bell rang, Alice and Lily walked out, their two friends sulking behind. Julie headed off towards the library while Gwen just hung back.

"Gwen, get over here!" Alice yelled. Gwen smiled.

"What?"

"So you turned down Sirius?" Alice asked. Immediately her face darkened.

"Why do you care?" Gwen snapped. Alice looked offended, and Gwen immediately apologized, "Sorry Alice, I didn't mean to snap at you, but Sirius…he's being so stupid. Why would he ask me out now? After what he did to Remus…"

"You know, he really is sorry," Lily said earnestly.

"Oh, shut up Lily just because you have a date with James you're all optimistic. If it wasn't for that little blind spot you would be agreeing with me," Gwen snapped.

"No I wouldn't…I mean, I was shocked too, and I agree that you should be mad, but you have to forgive him. The only one this really affected is Remus. He's the one that should be really upset with Sirius, not you. James forgave him, and I think you would find a way too." Then after a moment she added, "By the way, we are just going as friends. I didn't know who to ask and as the date is required…" Gwen just gave Lily a weird look.

"Right. Okay, whatever. So…why wasn't I invited to your sister's wedding?" Gwen asked, smiling slightly. She looked relived that the topic was off of her and Sirius.

"My sister didn't even want me at her wedding."

"That's horrible," Alice said, looking sad.

"Nah, not really…I need to get a dress though since I'm not a bridesmaid. I don't know when I'm going to do that. Right when I get home I expect, but I'm hoping my Aunt Rose got me a dress. I really don't want to go spend money on a dress I'll only wear once." Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have to be so practical? Dress shopping would be fun! Who cares if you only wear it once? It's still—"

"But I don't even want to go," Lily reminded.

"I honestly can't believe Petunia is getting married. Petunia! Of all people!" Gwen said.

"Well it's not like Vernon Dursley is handsome or anything. He's not even a little cute…" Lily pointed out. Alice laughed.

"His name is Vernon? I had a great uncle named Vernon and he smelled like prunes!" Alice giggled again.

"So…Petunia Dursley…hmm, I should send her a card…" Gwen said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Oh, yes, I think Petunia sent the letter to your mother to send to me because Petunia can't stand owls. She said if I responded to her letter she'd have Vernon shoot the owl."

"She wouldn't actually shoot it…would she?" Alice asked uncertainly. Gwen was looking horrified.

"No…but I'm not sure about this Vernon fellow. He's got a nasty temper…" They spent awhile chatting about Petunia and her ugly husband for a bit longer until they arrived in Charms. Julie was already there. Gwen gave her friends an annoyed look and sat down by her.

"You know Julie, you really oughta quit feeling so sorry for yourself and more sorry for Remus." Julie glared at them.

"I do feel sorry for him…but it's just…it isn't going to be the same."

"Have you even talked to him?" Lily demanded, sitting on the other side of him. Julie shifted guiltily.

"No." Gwen snorted, "I don't know what to say!"

"An apology?" Alice suggested.

"An apology? Me? He's the one who should be sorry!" Lily shushed her. Julie lowered her voice, "He's the one who should be sorry…keeping things like that from me!"

"Well, why won't you tell him that. I'm sure he will apologize…if you'll give him the time of day," Gwen snapped, obviously annoyed with her friend. The bell rang and Julie sank in her seat, looking very moody. Lily could hardly hear what she said next, but she caught the mumble.

"I suppose I'll talk to him after class…"

Lily nodded approvingly as they took their seats. Today was just tedious note taking and Lily felt her mind begin to slip off. To her left Alice and Gwen were giggling over something, both scribbling furiously on their parchment. Poor Flitwick didn't even notice. Today, even Lily didn't end up taking notes during class, she only half listened to Flitwick while she really thought about her sister's upcoming wedding. For some reason she felt oddly happy that she was going. But just then panic rose over as she released she had no idea what to shop for.

What dress should she wear?

What would James like…?

Hmm…she wasn't really good at this. At all.

Gwen could help her. Yeah.

_Phew._

Would Aunt Rose help her pay for a dress or…suddenly a horrible thought struck her. A horrible, horrible thought. She hadn't even thought about any of this earlier. Since she really didn't talk about her parents much, she never had to tell them they died…that they'd been murdered, murdered by Lord Voldemort. Suddenly, Lily couldn't be in the room anymore. It was as if the room had become much too hot and small in the last half second. She needed to escape. She glanced towards the door desperately then back at Professor Flitwick. Could she just run out? Fake sick? Or—her thoughts were interrupted by the bell. Lily quickly gathered her stuff and ran out. Alice was calling after her, but she ignored it as she ran down the hall. They only had a few days left before the holidays. What would James say? How would she tell him? Oh God…Lily locked herself in the girls bathroom on the third floor. She closed a stall and sat in there for a moment in silence. What was she going to do? Think, Lily think. Was their any way she could get out of the stupid wedding? Or maybe she could hide James up until the wedding and tell him Aunt Rose was really her mother. Stupid plan. She couldn't tell them. She couldn't. It was all her fault…why couldn't she have said it from the beginning. She could have accepted it and moved on…but now, now it was haunting her, like a secret that could be exposed at any moment. For reasons she couldn't explain, she didn't want anyone to know. Maybe it would have been too real. She wouldn't be able to pretend like it hadn't happened anymore. Lily stayed there for a while before tears began leaking out of her eyes. After a good couple of hours went by, Lily realized that she had missed Lunch and Defense. She hurried out of the bathroom and headed toward the library, brushing her tears away. No more crying. She couldn't cry. She couldn't be silly. She had to figure out what to do. Think, think, she wasn't the smartest witch in her year for nothing! What was wrong with her? Feeling tired, defeated, and crabby, she took her spot in the library. Do some homework…a good distraction. Yes, once she calmed down, she would be able to find the solution to her problem. Lily pulled out her Arithmancy chart that she needed to complete. For a while, she was so focused she hadn't realized someone was sitting across from her.

"Lily?" a voice said after a while. Lily's head snapped up to see, surprisingly, Sirius.

"Oh…hi Sirius."

"What are you doing?" he asked, frowning. Lily smiled.

"Arithmancy." Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"Now why in the name of Merlin would anyone put themselves through that?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. Lily opened her mouth to tell Sirius that Arithmancy was NOT a waste of time. In fact it was very interesting… "Never mind, pretend I didn't ask. So where did you get off to today?"

"When?"

"Defense…lunch? They were all looking for you," he gave her a shifty grin, "James was worried." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. I went to the hospital wing because I wasn't feeling all that great, and you know how Pomfrey is…she wouldn't release me…so I missed Defense. I'm fine though really…" Sirius nodded slowly, as if thinking.

"Yeah…funny thing is when we checked the hospital wing…oh about five times, you weren't there."

"I wasn't?" Lily choked out, her voice sounding small out of a sudden.

"Nope." Sirius grinned, "Now what were you really doing? Lillian—" Sirius began in his singsong voice.

"Oh shut up. I wasn't doing anything, and I was in the hospital wing…you just missed me."

"Lily, you are a terrible liar, you know that right?" Lily sighed.

"Fine…I skipped class, you happy?" Sirius smirked.

"What was that?"

"I skipped!"

"You what?"

"Shut up."

"Sorry I don't believe I heard you…"

"Sirius, don't tell anyone! Please!" Sirius frowned.

"Fine, then tell me what you were really doing."

"That, quite frankly, is none of your business."

"Wait till I tell Prongs, he'll be so proud…"

"BLACK!"

"…his Lily flower has finally skived…"

"SIRIUS!"

"…I mean, breaking a rule…really! I never saw it coming…you're growing up so fast!" he mocked, grinning from ear to ear. Lily glared at him.

"How'd you know I was here anyway?"

"Evans, you are so predictable. Well, except for that fact that you skipped class…"

"I am NOT predictable!"

"See, I knew you would say that…" Lily yelled in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air. Sirius chuckled, "Now just don't start yelling, we are in the library."

"Oh shut up. I'm surprised you even found your way here. Have you ever been in the library before today?" Lily snapped. Sirius just grinned.

"As a matter a fact I have. Twice. Both in second year. All James' bloody fault. He just had to get kicked out of the library so I had to do his dirty work for him." Sirius glanced over his shoulder towards the rows of books and shuddered, "It still gives me nightmares." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you're so funny," said Lily, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Now that you've totally put me off from Arithmancy, I might as well go to the dorm. I had to pick up something in my room anyway. Where's Gwen and Julie and Alice?"

"Oh…I dunno," Sirius said, shrugging. He was no longer grinning. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned Gwen… "Julie's probably crying in the loo." Lily frowned.

"Why would she be doing that?"

"She broke up with Remus—"

"What?" Lily yelped.

"I know, poor guy, he was really upset, but he won't show it. He knew it would happen too…"

"But…but…"

"It's supposedly only 'a break' but you know how it's going to end."

"What? I'm going to find Julie right now—"

"Calm down Lily…really, calm down."

"I am calm! It's everyone else that is going crazy! Why is everyone being so stupid? It's like neither of them can do anything without creating problems." Sirius snorted. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Oh, it's just, you act so innocent."

"What is that supposed to mean." Lily demanded. Sirius gave her a funny look. Like, are you stupid?

"It means, like you've never done it before? I swear, it's a girl issue…I mean, you've probably told James that you hated him for…I dunno forever. Then suddenly, this year, you start being…nice. Then you ask him to go to your sister's wedding! I mean—" Sirius stopped talking since Lily's eyes had gotten wide and she literally threw everything into her bag and ran out of the library. Feeling rather sulky, Sirius pouted, "Women…they are so confusing."

**A/N: Yeah Yeah hate me for not making them go out yet, but Jamsie here wanted to take it slow. And as for Julie and Remus drama drama we'll see what happenes Poor Lily I know it was sorta sad. Anywho review darlings it does make me happy.**

**Oh! and speaking of reviews may I say a very kind reviewer named '_ScorpioWrath_' has been here thick and thin so thank you for that! :) much love **

**_-SiriuslyObssesed-_**


	13. Blowing Steam and Mates

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything here you recognize, blah blah blah….**

Chapter 13—Blowing Steam and Mates

Lily corned Julie sometime that afternoon in the Gryffindor Girls dormitory. She didn't care at the moment that Michelle was organizing her closet, all she needed was to get Julie so she could yell at her. Okay, so maybe she shouldn't yell at her… Julie was sitting on her bed, her arms crossed, when Lily forced her to sit down. She was scowling, obviously knowing what was coming.

"Why'd you break up with Remus?"

"Listen Lily this isn't any of your business. Sometimes you have to quit being so nosy and just stay out of things."

"You broke up with Remus?" Michelle chirped in.

"You, OUT!" Lily snapped. Michelle scowled.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is my dorm…not yours."

"Wonderful, but we're having a private conversation, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave," Lily said through gritted teeth. Michelle just gave a sweet, fake smile.

"I would but I just have so much packing to do. I'm going home for Christmas."

"Hmm, and you don't own any clothes there so you have to pack your whole wardrobe? Please, I'm asking for five minutes." Michelle just smiled but didn't move. "Fine, Julie, let's go somewhere else—"

"No, I don't see why you feel the need to be involved. His…problem isn't the only thing. He obviously didn't trust me, he didn't tell me before then, and right now…it's just too much to handle. I need to think about it before I make any commitments—"

"I can't believe you. I really can't believe you," Lily gave Julie one more disgusted look before turning on her heel. She was sure as she slammed the door that Michelle let out a giggle. Why was everyone being so stupid? She wasn't sure if she could be around any of her friends at the moment, they were all making her so furious…

"Lily!" Lily tried to pretend she hadn't heard Alice and kept walking. Alice ran up to her, "Lily! There you are! We've been looking for you!" Lily just scowled, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Why does something have to be wrong?" Lily snapped. Alice's cheerful face suddenly vanished.

"You really shouldn't snap at me. Sorry for being a good friend and worrying." Lily waited for Alice to storm off, but she didn't, she kept alongside Lily who was picking up her pace, "Where are you going anyway?"

"My dorm…I need to…uh…I forgot." Lily trailed off

"Right. Where were you before?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Alice scowled.

"No! But no offense Lily, you don't skip class. It's a very un-Lily-like thing. Everyone just wants to make sure you are alright."

"I'm fine," Lily lied smoothly.

"Wonderful…so where were you?"

"I don't think it is any of your business," Lily said, repeating what she'd said to Sirius.

"Oh yes it is," Alice cut her off, stopping her from walking any further, "Lily you may think you're a good liar, but let's face it, I know you too well, so you better spill now on what's wrong or—"

"Or what?" Lily snapped, her anger building up, "What are you going to do? I'm Head Girl remember? I'll write you up?"

"For what? Caring?" Alice was losing her temper as well, "Stop being an idiot, or tell me what's wrong! That's all I'm saying. In the last two minutes all you've done is snapped at anything I said—even when I wasn't interrogating you! Obviously something is wrong or—"

"NOTHING IS WRONG!" Lily roared. Alice blinked for a moment, the anger on her face evaporated replaced by a stony looking one.

"Fine," she said coolly, "I guess I'll see you around." Lily didn't reply as Alice walked past her, down the corridor. Lily didn't move for a while, she stood there in the empty corridor, trying to control herself. She'd stalked off on Sirius, yelled at Julie, and snapped at Alice. It was only a matter of time before they all got together to talk about her. Her anger returning, she headed toward the Great Hall. It was about dinner time, and she couldn't miss another meal otherwise Alice would freak out on her. Luckily, no one was there, so Lily took a seat at the far end of the table before filling her plate with mashed potatoes. That's when she realized she'd lost her appetite. Pushing away her plate, she stood up to leave.

"Lily!" Lily groaned, shrinking back down as Sirius found himself sitting next to her, "Hey…James has been looking for you. He'll be here in a bit. Hold on."

"I need to go…"

"Why?" Sirius asked before taking a big forkful of potatoes.

"Er…library…"

"'ol' on…ille, ahms ehs coing," Sirius said, a mouth full of food. Lily gave Sirius a disgusted look.

"That's disgusting…do you have any manners?" Sirius took a moment to swallow then grinned.

"Of course I do. I'm just rather hungry now." True to his word, he began shoveling down his food. Lily rolled her eyes and left Sirius to eat by himself. Only moments after she left, two fifth years took her place, giggling, giving Sirius side glances while he washed everything down with a large gulp of pumpkin juice. Distracted, Lily ran into someone…

"Sorry…"

"Lily!" Lily sighed when she heard the voice and looked up to see James' hazel eyes twinkling happily. He was grinning widely, "There you are!"

"Yeah…here I am." His smile faded slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh…nothing…I'm just tired. I'm going to…er…head back to the common room. Okay?"

"I'll escort you," James said, offering his arm.

"Oh, no, really, it's fine—"

"I insist—"

"But—" Lily faltered under his stare. It was making her feel weak at the knees. She regained her balance by linking her arm in his, and the two of them set down the corridor.

"So…"

"So…"

"Where were you earlier?" James questioned. Lily looked hard at a suit of armor they were passing. Why did everyone keep asking her that? Was it that big of a deal?

"Oh…you know…it was just one of those days," she said offhandedly, "Professor VanDov wasn't mad in defense, was she?" Lily asked anxiously, "I wasn't feeling too great, and I lost track of time…" James smiled.

"Nah…I doubt that old bat even noticed."

"James!"

"What? She's ancient. I swear, she's going blind. I doubt she'll be teaching next year, that's for sure. I can't believe Dumbledore hired her this year. She looks like she might fall over dead any day."

"She's a good teacher! Besides, Dumbledore's old too!"

"Yeah, but he can function."

"VanDov can function perfectly! She's just—"

"Ancient like a dinosaur."

"James! Quit saying that!" James just grinned peevishly, "She's just reaching her older years."

"Right." Lily rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. Something about James let her forget her worries for a moment. What did Petunia's wedding matter, really? She just wouldn't go. Simple enough. James seemed to have noticed that she was distracted.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"No…well, actually…I don't think I'm going to my sister's wedding. I think I'll just stay here for the holidays."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"I don't want to."

"But she's your sister! You've got to! Don't you want to see all your family? It's Christmas and—" Lily's happy mood was evaporating as quickly as it had been made.

"James, I'm not going," Lily said angrily.

"But—"

"I thought you'd understand that."

"Well I don't!" James yelled in frustration, "Lily, I don't know what you're thinking. You have to tell me. I'm not a mind reader. Remember? I failed Divinitation." Lily stopped walking, they'd arrived at the portrait. Lily glanced at the wizard in the portrait who was eyeing them with great interest.

"Good night Potter," Lily said coldly before turning to the portrait, "Fairy lights." With a curious look at her, the portrait swung open while James stood behind, speechless.

"You too?" He asked angrily, James shook his head, still in shock. He was back to square one, Potter. He'd gotten so used to her calling him James now too. It wasn't his fault! Suddenly, she was changing her mind all over again. Couldn't she make up her bloody mind? If she was going to hate him, keep it that way so he wouldn't get his hopes up. He might have been brooding there for a while, because the man in the portrait spoke again, itching his nose.

"Love Trouble?" The portrait asked, James glared. He did NOT need advice from some old, smelly portrait.

"Shut up."

Lily sat in her room for the rest of the evening. She couldn't do homework, she couldn't sleep, and she felt like she was going to be sick. James knocked on her door at sometime, but Lily didn't respond. She just pretended to be asleep. Couldn't he just forget about it? What did he know? Nothing. Anyway, he had no reason to be mad at her, she didn't do anything. Angry, confused, and upset, Lily finally left her room which was becoming much too cramped. She must be becoming claustrophobic or something. Curling up at the couch, she watched the dying fire. At least stupid Potter was gone. Why did she like him so much anyway? She sat there for what felt like hours—and probably was. James probably hated her now. She asked him on a date…sorta, the turned him down. No wonder he hated her. She was a horrible person. Not only for that, but for many things. She really didn't deserve even him. The egotistical jerk that had been after her for years, even he was better then her. Oh, and what would her parents have said? Lily was perfect. Lily was the sweetest daughter a parent could ever have. What a lie. What a bundle of lies that had been fed to her. Petunia was right. It was her fault. Everything was her fault. Before she knew it, she was falling apart all over again. Burying her face in a hard pillow, she cried. Her tears didn't dry until long after she'd fallen asleep.

James' P.O.V.

He'd been restless all night. All he could think about was her. As much as he wanted to be angry, as much as he wanted to move on, he couldn't. All he could think about was her, and how wonderful she was. She was too good for him. She was the girl that he could never get. When would he get it through his own thick skull? Turning over again, he laid awake in agitation. Instead of spending another few hours, tossing and turning, he got up, put on his glasses and stumbled into the common room.

He was surprised to find Lily on the couch, asleep. She looked so beautiful, the way the fire caught the golden threads weaved into her dark auburn waves. She was sleeping peacefully, looking so sweet, so innocent just curled up, the mess of blankets now on the floor. James just longed to hold her once in his arms.

For a while, he watched her sleep.

Hm

_Creepy_ he realized

But he couldn't help it she's just breathtaking he could barley stand it.

Finally, after the fire embers were dying, James found himself in almost complete darkness. He really needed some sleep. With one last, longing look at Lily, he headed back to his own room. He needed to look at her as a friend. Nothing more. It was obvious now. She never did want anything more then friendship. Sure, there'd been times when he thought there was something, a connection between them, but perhaps out of hope and longing, he'd just invented it. If Lily didn't want him to accompany her to the wedding, he wouldn't. He could be a good friend. Or…at least, he could try. This was it. No more gazing at Lily longingly or wanting to ask her out. He had to learn when 'no' just meant no. He hadn't meant to be creepy or stalker like that night, watching Lily sleep, but again he couldn't help it…she looked so beautiful. No more, he told himself sternly before placing his glasses on the bedside. Even with these thoughts clouding his mind, James Potter eventually drifted off into an uneasy sleep

Lily woke with a start the next morning. She had fallen asleep on the couch, and she quickly sprung up to find the room spinning slightly. She felt awful. Standing, she regained her focus when James came out of his own room looking just as exhausted.

"Morning Lily," was all he said, giving her a quick nod before exiting the room. Confused, tired, and feeling slightly sick, Lily groaned and headed to her own room. Today was the last day of classes before the holidays, but she had Transfiguration this morning, something she wasn't looking forward to. Slowly getting dressed, she was finally ready to head down to the Great Hall.

Spotting Gwen, she took a seat beside her. Alice gave her a cold look before departing, and Julie wasn't there.

"Good Morning," Lily grumbled. Gwen sighed, stirring her oatmeal, not speaking. Thank God Gwen wasn't a morning person, Lily thought to herself. Lily nibbled at a bit of toast, but once again, felt her appetite disappearing. Finally, she gave up on any attempt to eat when Gwen finally spoke to her.

"So…Alice is royally pissed off, what did you do?" Gwen asked, finally breaking the silence. Lily eyed Gwen carefully, but Gwen just sipped her pumpkin juice, looking tired and bleary.

"I didn't do anything. She just…caught me at a bad time. I suppose I should apologize. I snapped at her for no reason. Lemme guess, Julie's mad at me too?"

"Nah, she knew you were going to holler at her no matter what, she was expecting worse, actually," Gwen smiled slightly. She seemed to be waking up now, "Anyway…I heard from Sirius that you yelled at him too. Who's next on your hit list today?"

"No one…I guess I got rather snippy with Potter yesterday too," Lily muttered shamefacedly. Gwen nodded.

"Oh…well…in case you were interested...," she began, giving a glance toward the Marauders who were sitting down the table, "They're all made up now you see. Remus forgave Sirius…he's still rightfully mad, but quoting him 'it shouldn't break up the strong bonds of friendship'," Gwen recited, using air quotes. Lily smiled and Gwen continued, "When Sirius told me this, I burst out laughing. I guess I'm not one for sentimental talks, eh? Or maybe it was just all that sugar I had last night."

"What did I tell you about sugar after midnight?" Lily teased, feeling her old self coming back. They laughed, and Lily suddenly realized something. Gwen had been talking about Sirius with non harsh tones! "Gwen…are you and Sirius—"

"We're good," Gwen answered shortly, "I suppose…I mean, I still like him I guess," she said quietly, glancing around, "But…I'm not going to be one of those girls, you know? I mean, I don't want it just to be a two week deal. So instead, I'm going to drag it out longer, and if he really likes me as much as he says. He can prove it."

"Ah…the wise words of Gwen," Lily said smirking.

"How about you and James, eh? You two have been getting cozy lately—"

"I think he hates me now," Lily said quietly, the smile wiped off her face. She stole a glance down towards the Marauders who were conversing quietly, none of them eating at the moment.

"Hate you? Come off it Lily…it isn't possible for him to hate you! Besides, I thought he was going to Petunia's wedding—"

"Well…er…I'm not going anymore."

"Why?" Gwen asked, clearly surprised, "I thought it'd be hilarious to see that old cow in a wedding dress! Along with the boyfriend…wasn't he a large oaf himself?" Lily nodded, still looking glum, "Oh, c'mon Lily. You have to go to your own sister's wedding, even if you don't want to bring James. Heck, I'll go with you and endure your sister's snide taunts."

"No!" Lily said quickly. Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Why is it such a big deal? You didn't seem to mind before."

"I just don't want to go. Besides, Petunia doesn't even want me there."

"Screw Petunia. Show up, drink champagne, laugh your arse off at all your drunk uncles…weddings are fun! Besides, it's a great reunion time. You might not see half of these people again until your own wedding—though now that I think of it you won't. Since you want a small wedding or something ridiculous like that…"

"Gwen, I just don't want to go. Can't you accept that?" Lily asked tiredly.

"No."

"Why? Why does it matter to everyone?"

"Because, it isn't very like you Lily. You've always been a horrid liar."

How many people were going to tell her that the next few days? "Now, tell me why you really don't want to go to this wedding." Gwen waited impatiently while Lily glared at her. She really was not in the mood.

"You know…I reckon I should stop into Transfiguration early…I had a question to ask Professor McGonagall…"

"Lily—"

"See you in class Gwen!" Lily squeaked, her voice getting oddly high pitched. She quickly exited the Great Hall, ignoring Gwen's yells ("I'll find out eventually you know!")

Not really wanting to go to Transfiguration early, Lily walked around a bit when she ran into Remus.

"Hi Lily," he said, nodding at her politely.

"Oh, hello Remus, how've you been?"

"Alright," Remus said forcing a smile. Lily could tell he was lying.

"I heard about you and Julie," Lily commented, regreting it as she said it.

Remus gave a weak smile, "Yeah…funny how some things work out."

"Not really. Listen Remus—"

"Lily, it's okay, I've talked to her. I understand." At loss for words, Lily didn't respond. After a bit of silence, Remus spoke up.

"How about you and James?"

"What do you mean?" Lily felt her heart sinking.

"I mean, the poor boy's confused. First you kiss him—"

"He kissed me!"

"—then you get all jealous when he has a girlfriend."

"I was not jealous!"

Remus spoke over her voice, "Then you finally ask him on a date—"

"AS FRIENDS! HE EVEN—"

"NOW YOU BREAK IT OFF!" Remus shouted loudly. Lily scowled. She hadn't expected this from Remus. Merlin, everyone was ganging up against her.

"Listen, I'm not going to the wedding at all. It's not because of James…it's because of other things, okay?" Remus' eyes softened.

"What other things?"

"Nothing," Lily said quickly, wanting to hit herself smack in the forehead. Merlin, she could say the _stupidest_ things.

Remus sighed, "It obviously isn't nothing, but I won't make you tell me. I just wanted you to know how James is feeling. Maybe it makes sense in your mind, but to him, it feels like another stinging rejection."

"But—"

"Lily, you don't need to explain yourself to me. You need to talk to James."

Oh, perfect, absolutely spiffing. There was NO way she was going to talk to James.

"Right, I'll talk to him after Transfiguration."

Transfiguration wasn't as bad as usual. They were transfiguring rubber balls into mice. It was review for Lily, thank goodness. Transfiguration always was hardest for her. It took Lily only one go, which allowed her the rest of the period to talk. Unfortunately, no one was talking to her. Alice wouldn't look at her, and Julie stood by her side loyally. Gwen was working with Sirius, both of them laughing loudly. However, Lily caught Remus' eye, and he grinned at her. He was working with Peter while James worked with Frank Longbottom.

"Hey guys," Lily said, sliding over toward them.

"I-can't-get-it!" Peter muttered in frustration, perspiring slightly. He wiped his forehead with the hem of his robe before slinking downward into his chair looking defeated.

"You almost got it Wormtail…just keep trying," said Remus, shooting his friend a look of encouragement. Peter just acted as if he hadn't heard, sulking. Remus rolled his eyes and turned back to Lily.

"So…"

"So?"

"How are you?" Remus asked politely.

"Terrible"

"Why?"

"James is…he's…I'm confused."

"Ah…care to share?"

"It isn't anything you don't know. I just…I don't really know how I feel about him. I certainly don't hate him, and I was happy I asked him—but I can't go." Remus nodded, but Lily could sense he didn't get it, "It's complicated." Remus shrugged.

"Okay."

"Well…it looks like everyone's friends?" Remus nodded, knowing she was talking about the Marauders.

"Yeah…I know Sirius was really sorry. Besides, his constant groveling was getting annoying."

"He is determined," Lily agreed, laughing.

"Besides, Dumbledore made Snape swear not to tell anyone. I mean, I obviously don't want him to know but…what can you do about it?" Lily frowned, thinking, "Although Snape hates me, he wouldn't break an oath to Dumbledore…at least, I don't think so. Besides, this is my final year, there's not much he could do."

"You're optimistic," Lily noted, "Personally, I might've killed Black…after yelling at him for a good, long time."

"And there, my friend, lies our differences," Remus said, in a 'oh-so-wise' tone of voice. Lily laughed, and the two of them chatted the rest of class. Every once in a while, Lily would glance over her shoulder to see James, his back turned to her…

"James! Hold on!" James seemed to have rushed out of Transfiguration as soon as the bell had rung, and Lily had to run down the hallway to catch up with him. He slowed down, looking surprised.

"Oh, hey Lily."

"Er…hi," Lily said quickly, "Uh…I…kinda…well…um…" James raised an eyebrow, looking impatient, "Sorry." James waited.

Finally, "That's all?" he asked.

"Well…yeah, it was..er…my apology. See…I'm sorry about my sister's stupid wedding. I shouldn't have asked you in the first place, and I'm just not going. I know you don't really get it, but…it's kinda a family issue. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't because of you or anything." James stared at her for a while which was making her uneasy. She shifted her eyes away from his hazel ones and looked at her shoes determinedly until he spoke.

"You didn't have anything to apologize for. It's your choice. You know…you can talk at me about your family. I'll listen…or talk to Sirius, he's had loads of family issues…I mean really, look at his cousin!"

"Bellatrix?"

"The one and only." Lily giggled.

"God, I'd hate to be related to that old cow." Feeling much more comfortable, the two of them headed off towards the grounds so they could go to Herbology.

The last day before the holidays were coming to a close and most of the seventh year Gryffindors were hanging around lazily in the Gryffindor Common room.

"Check mate," Remus said for the umpteenth time. Sirius scowled.

"Again? I swear! This never ends does it? Moony, how do you always win?"

"'Cause, Remus is a genius," Gwen sang. Remus and Gwen laughed at Sirius as he got up huffily to join the others by the fire.

"You lost?" James asked as Sirius waltzed over. Sirius scowled again.

"How'd you know?"

"Well…you weren't bragging about how you beat Moony at chess and screaming at the top of your lungs so…I take it you lost."

"Oh…well…yes, I guess," Sirius agreed reluctantly.

"So, is everyone going home?" Julie asked. Julie and Remus were politely ignoring each other, so when Remus and Gwen had sat down by them, she blushed slightly, and looked towards Lily. Lily just shook her head.

"No…I think Alice and I are the only ones staying," Lily said sounding glum. Gwen frowned.

"This is just because of your sister's wedding Lils? You love going home for Christmas! Just because Petunia's a b—"

"Quit it will you? I know what I'm doing. Besides, I wasn't going to leave Alice alone."

"Oh well—" A loud squeal emitted near the portrait hole causing Julie to glance around, everyone followed her gaze. Alice had just entered, nearly jumping onto her boyfriend.

"Really? Oh! I'm going to pack right now!"

"Speak of the devil," Julie said dully, as a flushed, cheery looking Alice rushed by.

"Oy, Alice, where's the fire?" Sirius yelled out to her. She stopped half way up the stairs, still grinning, "I'm spending Christmas with Frank! He just told me…his parents want to meet me! Isn't that exciting! Oh I need to pack! Bye guys!" she said giving one more cheerful wave before dashing out of sight. Lily felt her stomach drop as Julie's eyes landed on her.

"Lily—"

"Oh, it's no big deal," said Lily quickly, her voice sounding oddly high pitched.

"Right—"

"I…I'll…er…"

"Petunia's wedding won't be that bad?" Gwen asked, frowning, looking concerned. Lily sighed, looking resigned.

"I guess not…but I don't have a dress and—"

"Chill out, it's alright Lils, when's the wedding again?"

"The twenty first—"

"Oh, well you still have time. Two days—"

"Only one by tomorrow, oooh Petunia's going to freak out!" Lily said franticly, "Damn…I have so much to do now…great, thanks a lot Alice," she muttered to herself. She quickly exited, only giving a parting wave to her friends before rushing off to her own dormitory. Gwen looked around at everyone uneasily.

"Do you think there's more to this wedding then we know about?" No one had an answer.

The ride home on the Hogwarts Express wasn't an enjoyable one. Lily was quiet and secluded, although James tried to cheer her up, she just responded with an 'I'm just tired'. When they finally reached Kings Cross, everyone else seemed chipper and excited—for the holidays were just beginning. Lily just followed dutifully, dragging her trunk after her friends looking glum. James seemed to have noticed because as he said bye to everyone before he stopped before saying bye to Lily.

"Lily?"

"Bye James!" Lily said, trying to be her cheerful self and failing miserably.

"Are you alright?" Lily nodded, avoiding his eye, "Well…if you need anything, just owl me. Oh, and…if for a last minute type thing…you know…just in case…for a date. I'm always available," he said, winking. Feeling guilty, Lily shook her head.

"Thanks James, but I think I'll just endure the whole thing by myself. It won't be…er…too bad…like Gwen said." James looked doubtful.

"Alright but it gets unbearable, you can always come stay with us! My parents don't mind, I mean, Sirius is here too!" He gestured over to Sirius who was howling with laughter while Peter squeaked loudly about something. Lily shook her head. They never did grow up.

"Oh, because you are so bearable," Lily said sarcastically.

"Hey!"

Lily smiled before heading towards the Platform, "See you James. Have a Merry Christmas!" James watched her leave before shouting after her.

"Same to you Evans!" Lily turned her head a fraction, gave a small laugh then disappeared through the barrier.

Feeling disappointed, James headed back towards Sirius. The small bubble of hope that had been growing had deflated with a quick jab of a needle. He and Lily were friends. That was all they were ever meant to be

**A/N: As I am disappointed with this chapter… Gahh! It took me a while, yeah sorry about the 32871924 word count all the words just flowed out.. Hmm I'm not sure I like this enough but it still will lead to what happens next so stay tuned! :)**


	14. The Wedding

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The End.**

Chapter 14—The Wedding

Lily was surprised to see her Aunt Rose at the Kings Cross station looking very ecstatic.

"LILY!" she cried, flinging her arms around her. Lily wobbled slightly, clinging onto her aunt to regain her balance. Aunt Rose took this as a gesture of affection and held her niece tighter, "Lily…wonderful…Petunia never got a response…I was worried you didn't get her letter!"

"Oh, I got it," Lily assured her, smiling slightly.

"Wonderful…and you know…Petunia told me. About you know what," her Aunt Rose winked, "That's why you're parents were ever so proud of you. To think you're a witch—!"

"Shhh!" Lily hissed. There was no need to scream it in a muggle train station. Petunia told Aunt Rose? Oh dear, what on earth had convinced Petunia to even mention it, Lily wondered to herself. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about her aunt knowing her secret. It looked as if she would stop anyone on the platform and scream the news in their ear. Of course, Aunt Rose did nothing of the sort as they headed back to the car. Instead she bombarded Lily with one too many questions. She was talking so fast, however, that Lily didn't even had the chance to answer if she'd wanted to. When they reached her aunt's car, Lily took her seat in the back, hoping this would prevent a bulk of conversation. Unfortunately—it didn't. This time, as her aunt questioned her, she paused to let Lily actually answer.

"So…how was school? What is it called again? Oggywarf? Or was it Hogpenton or—"

"Hogwarts," Lily supplied, wincing slightly…Hogpenton? I mean really…

"Oh…yes, Hogwarts, that was it. Interesting name…so it's your last year? What have you learned? I'm so curious—"

"Well, when did Petunia tell you?" Lily asked, still shocked that her aunt knew her biggest secret. Even more shocked that Petunia had told her.

"A few days ago. She wanted to warn me that you might be bringing a schoolmate who might not be…er…as controlled with their powers as you are." Lily doubted Petunia put it in these kind terms, but Lily nodded all the same, "So tell me about Hogwarts."

"Oh, okay…well, what did you want to know? My subjects? Well I'm in Potions—"

"Oh! Like in a cauldron! Like a real witch!" Lily held back her laughter at her Aunt's eagerness, "Do you have—"

"We've got wands," Lily said, smiling at her overexcited aunt who gasped at this, "Which we use for Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. My other classes are Arithmancy and Herbology." Her aunt nodded, looking at her from the rearview mirror.

"This is amazing Lily! Amazing! I'm sure you're excellent, let me guess, top of the class?" Lily nodded, feeling herself blush.

"Well…I mean…I'm not the only one. My friends are all really bright and this other boy, James Potter, he's really smart too. He's Head Boy along with me but he's rather silly sometimes. A bit of a prankster, no respect for authority, he plays Quidditch and—"

"Quidditch?" her aunt interrupted, curiosity mingling in her voice. Oh right, Aunt Rose didn't know about Quidditch. Lily took up the rest of the car ride explaining the magical sport to her. She about died when she found out that witches and wizards really flew on brooms.

"Amazing! To think…it's better then airplanes!" Lily chuckled while she told her Aunt a bit more about her school as she pulled out her trunk, "Lily…" her aunt said tentatively.

"What?"

"Would you mind…could you…show me some magic?" she asked eagerly. Lily smiled at her Aunt's enthusiasm.

"Sure." Pulling out her wand, she levitated her trunk causing her aunt to gasp and carried it along into the house.

"Lily that was wonderful!"

"Oh…it's only a simple levitating charm. Really…we learned that first year. I can show you more later. Your lucky I'm seventeen or else I wouldn't able to use it at all, Id be expelled, that is. Anywho right now I'm practicing Human Transfiguration. That's rather difficult but it's really interesting—"

"Who will you be transfiguring?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, I can just do myself…that's what I usually do or my friends—"

"Oh, speaking of friends, are you bringing a certain someone?" she asked, smiling. Lily's face dropped slightly, and she shook her head.

"No…I thought well, I don't think many of my friends would do well at a muggle wedding."

"A what wedding?"

"Muggle…non magic people..."

"Yes well—" they were interrupted by the doorbell. Sighing, her aunt glanced towards the door, "I think that's the florist. He's going over the last minute details with Petunia. Why don't you go unpack?" Lily nodded, dragging her stuff upstairs into the room she'd stayed in over the summer. Locking herself in the room, she laid on her bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. She was trying not to think about certain things…her parents, the wedding…James. Her stomach gave a guilty jolt. As much as she didn't deserve him, she still liked him, and for reasons beyond her, he liked her. She'd toyed with the idea of inviting him anyway—or showing up at his house, but she didn't even know where he lived. Besides, she knew all it would do was complicate things, even if she really did want him there. She should have known better then to ask him in the first place. This is what you get for fancying James Potter, Lily scolded herself.

There was a sharp knock at her door that forced Lily back into reality and out of her daydreams.

"Yeah?"

"Lily?" It was Petunia.

"Oh…hey…uh…you can come in." The door opened a fraction so Petunia could stick her head in. She was looking very annoyed.

"Dinner. By the way, Aunt Rose has a dress for you…assuming you haven't gotten one. You have to make sure it fits." Without another word, Petunia closed the door with a snap. Lily grudgingly got up and followed her out.

Dinner was quiet, everyone seemed rather tense. Her aunt had never been married, so there were only three of them, eating in silence. Petunia barely touched her plate when she asked to be excused. Lily forced herself to eat under her aunt's watchful stare. Finally, Lily offered to clean up the kitchen. Aunt Rose argued this until Lily said she'd do it by magic. Aunt Rose excitedly pulled up a chair to watch while Petunia huffed and stalked out, muttering 'freaks' under her breath. The rest of the night seemed to creep by. Petunia's annoying friends came over, all of them giggling obnoxiously. They were to be the bridesmaids. Lily could tell Aunt Rose didn't approve, but she didn't bother saying anything. Instead her and Lily got together Lily's outfit and Aunt Rose even let Lily go out and get Petunia a wedding gift. She went to bed early, telling her aunt it had been a long train ride and that she was tired. Truth was, she was wide awake. Lying in the blackness of her room, it would be many hours before sleep would fall.

Today was December 21, aka, Petunia's big day. Lily at the moment was hiding out in the bathroom, away from Petunia. She'd been raving at everyone all morning. It was apparent the stress and anxiety had reached its breaking point.

"…WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT?" There was a pause, "DON'T EVEN GIVE ME THAT! I NEED IT NOW!" What on earth was she on about now? Lily checked to make sure the door was locked. Urgh. What a depressing day. Lily immediately promised herself she wouldn't be like that on her wedding day. That is…if she ever got married. After all who would marry her? Gah. Petunia was actually getting married…even if it was to a stuck up, ugly, blah. At least they had matching personalities, Lily thought to herself, smiling.

"LILY!" Oh, right, she needed to go with her Aunt to get her hair done. Grudgingly, she left the protection of the bathroom to go downstairs.

"Lily, can you be any slower? We're going to be late!" Petunia snapped, "Yvonna! Where'd she go off to?" Petunia demanded before exiting the kitchen in a hurry. Lily and her aunt exchanged wordless glances as they tiredly followed Petunia out to the car.

After many tears and tantrums, they'd gotten back to the church. Petunia had broken down into sobs claming her hair looked like she was Medusa and that Vernon would never marry an ugly wart like her. Of course, after much consoling (and a new hairstyle) Petunia gathered herself together. Sitting in the front pew, Lily tugged on her own short, black dress. Her own hair was laid in curls that framed her face, red lipstick, and a pair of strappy black shoes. She felt oddly out of place for a wedding, but she didn't have another dress. Feeling self conscious, she put back on her sweater and tugged down on her dress. Her aunt, watching her, whispered.

"Quit fidgeting! You look fine." Lily gave up and waited for the music to begin. Once it did, everyone watched the bridesmaids followed by a cute little flower girl that skipped down the aisle, almost falling. Lily had no idea who she was. Finally, Petunia appeared. And for once in her life, Lily could say that Petunia looked gorgeous. Her usual straight dirty blonde hair was sleeked back in an elegant bun with a veil that went around it. For once, her dress fit her perfectly. It wasn't over the top and frivolous, but it had pearls sewn along the top of the dress. It had a long trail that ended in lace, and she was clutching a bundle of white roses while her arm was linked in Vernon's fathers arm. She gave a nervous smile to everyone as she walked by, looking elegant. The last measure of music was played as she approached the altar. Petunia turned a fraction, looking at everyone when her eyes fell on Lily. She looked as young and nervous as ever. It suddenly struck Lily that Petunia was only twenty two. Lily wasn't planning on being married then, and here was Petunia walking down the aisle. She had to be terrified. Lily smiled at Petunia sincerely. Petunia returned it for half a second before turning back to smile at her fiancée—almost husband. He smiled back, and Lily smiled to herself. Even if they weren't the nicest people in the world, Petunia was Lily's sister. She only hoped that they'd be good to each other, for they really seemed to love each other.

The ceremony was beautiful. Aunt Rose started crying—she wasn't the only one. Lily began to think about how lucky Petunia was to have found someone. She could only hope she'd ever find the same thing. Aunt Rose blew her nose loudly as Lily followed her back to the car, silent. They were going to head to the party which was being held at a large ballroom where Lily remembered Petunia taking ballroom dance lessons when she was seventeen.

The party was alright, most of it was people walking up to Petunia and Vernon congratulating them, but within the first fifteen minutes, Lily was feeling restless. Already five people had passed by saying how it was a shame that her parents weren't there to see their eldest daughter wed. Oh, just make me feel worse, Lily thought to herself, feeling sulky. She sat at the table taking a sip of champagne, playing with a gold ring she was wearing. This night was going to drag on forever. People began rushing to the middle of a portable wooden dance floor while some soft tune from the DJ was playing in the background.

"Excuse me?" Lily turned around to see a boy around her age smiling at her. He wasn't bad looking with nice brown eyes, a rather plain face, and a charming smile, "Would you like to dance?" Lily was going to say not really, but since she had been sitting alone, he was probably just trying to be nice. Besides, it wouldn't kill her.

Much

Although it's possible, for the klutz she is, to trip over her own feet and pummel into the nearest glass table.

Cause of death: Dancing

Oh she can just see it now. But against her better judgment she agreed.

"Sure," Lily said, taking his hand and walking out to the dance floor.

"I'm Brad, Brad Hanson," he offered.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lily Evans, Petunia's sister." They danced for a while, talking, and Lily found him nice to talk to.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked after they'd danced for a while.

"Sure." Sitting down, they talked for a while. Brad talked about school for a while and football. He looked like he was about to ask her about her school when a slow song came on. He smiled at her…he really had a charming smile.

"Would you like to dance? I've always liked this song." Lily doubted it. She'd never even heard it before, but she agreed. Slow dancing, he asked her something surprising.

"So…do you have a boyfriend?" he grinned. Okay, maybe not that surprising.

Really?

Why cant this just be an innocent dance?

"Oh…no." Lily murmered He laughed.

"Really? I'm surprised. You're nice, and very pretty…usually girls like you are taken." Lily couldn't hide her smile.

"Why thank you…but I kinda screwed it up with the one guy I liked."

"Oh really, tell me about it." He spun her around, and she giggled, surprised she hasn't harmed anyone from her unskillful dancing yet.

"This boy, James Potter at my school, I've been crushing on him since, well, the beginning of the year. I was just being stupid…he liked me for a long time, and I kept turning him down. Then…when he was done with me, I guess you could call it I…er…started to like him." Brad smiled.

"You always want what you can't have." He stated

"But—" Lily was going to explain why she hadn't said yes the first million times. After all James Potter was a jerk! A wonderful, hot, charming one, but a jerk nonetheless! However, someone interrupted them. A very familiar voice…

"May I cut in?" Lily almost thought her heart stopped she turned her head a fraction and gulped. She whipped around only to find James Potter. He looked positively handsome. His mess of a hair was even more disheveled then usual and his hazel eyes were twinkling charmingly. He had his signature smirk on his face that made you want to grab him by the collar and song him right then and there. Brad cleared his throat and that brought Lily back to reality. Finally, stuttering…

"P-P-Potter?"

A/N: Hm...was that predictable? Drop a review please and tell me what you thought! thanks!


	15. The Wedding Crasher

**Disclaimer: As always, it's all j.k.r.'s**

Chapter 15—The Wedding Crasher

"P-P-Potter?" Lily stared at James Potter who grinned widely.

"'ello Evans. Why are we back to surnames all of a sudden?"

"We're not…I just…was…er…surprised. And you're wearing…" she looked at his muggle tuxedo, "A tux?" James grinned, if possible, even wider.

"Yep." James said proudly. Lily blinked, at loss for words. Brad however was looking back and forth between them. Then an odd look came over Brad's face, and smiled

"Hmm…so…was this who you were talking about Lily?" he asked

"What?" Lily asked franticly. Brad grinned, but she could tell he was looking only a little disappointed.

"Ah…well…I'll let you two talk. Thanks for the dance, Lily."

"Oh…no, Brad, hold on—" Brad, however, had already disappeared into the crowd. Lily sighed and turned back to James.

"So…you were talking about me, huh?" He winked at her, Lily felt her face get hot as a small blush arose in her cheeks.

"Oh don't be so full of yourself. I wasn't talking about you."

"Who were you talking about?"

"Er—Remus?" Damnit Lillian! Why did that come out as a question!

Gah!

Git.

"Right," James said disbelievingly. Lily gave him a hard stare.

"Yes, but that's not important. Why are you here?" Lily hissed.

"Well…I was thinking about it all day yesterday about how you were going to be miserable at your sister's wedding…which really isn't as bad as you made it out to be. This reception is nice…for having no magic anyways."

"James! No, you need to go before—"

"Before what?" he challenged.

"Before…before anyone sees you! My sister will be furious and it is her wedding night and all so—"

"Hey, she told you that you could bring a friend," James argued stubbornly. His smile began to fade and he looked a bit affronted. She noticed out of the corner of her eye her Aunt Rose beckoning her over.

"James—"

"Lily." But just then a large woman, who was about the same height as James, appeared behind him. She wasn't very pretty. She was manly looking and her eyebrows were thick and bushy while her tiny little eyes squinted at Lily in disapproval. It was Vernon's sister, Marge, "Rose wants you." She grunted before turning away.

"Who's Rose?" he asked.

"My aunt," Lily said as her aunt walked toward her.

"Oh. That's your aunt? I talked to her just a minute ago because I was looking for you—"

"What!" Lily hissed, "Oh great, just what I needed. Fine…I guess you can stay…hello Auntie," she added as her aunt approached, smiling widely.

"Hello Lily, were you planning on introducing me to this fine fellow? He was looking for you, you know," she added with a cheery wink.

"He found me," Lily said dully.

"That I can see. Is he from your school Lily?" Lily nodded. Aunt Rose gave a squeal of excitement.

"She just found out I was a witch," Lily added in an undertone voice. James gave a small laugh, watching her Aunt Rose with great interest.

"That's fantastic! You know…being a you-know-what. I'm just honored to meet someone from Lily's school. I was afraid this year was going to be so hard for her…but I didn't even know! Her parents never told me her secret, so then Petunia told me and—" James was frowning slightly.

"Auntie, why don't you go talk to Vernon's mother, she's looking rather irritable," Lily interrupted. Aunt Rose smiled knowingly, and waggled her finger at Lily sympathetically.

"Ah…I see. Privacy. Sorry to keep you from…well whatever you two were planning on doing. Ta-Ta! Enjoy yourselves!"

"Wait we weren't doing anything—" Lily tried to explain, but her aunt just gave her knowing smile before walking off. James chuckled but stopped after Lily's glare. Lily just sighed.

"Hungry?" She asked.

"A bit…but I want to see the bride and groom first," James said, a wicked grin playing on his face.

"James, please, don't do anything! Petunia will kill me…Auntie will kill me if I make her upset. I'm serious." James' face fell.

"Ah…but Sirius and I came up with all these pranks—"

"No, first of all, this is my sister's wedding—"

"Whom you don't like." Ignoring him, Lily ignored the true statement.

"Second of all your pranks most likely involve magic and since this is a room full of muggles—"

"—you should lower your voice," James completed for her. Lily scowled.

"I'm not talking loud. Besides, who'd be eavesdropping?" James shrugged.

"I dunno…some of these muggles look rather shifty."

"Oh shut up." But she was grinning.

"Only if you dance with me." He replied swiftly.

"James—"

"Aw, c'mon Lily, you were dancing with that one bloke!"

"But—"

"What? He's not an arrogant git? Fine, I'll give him that, but I'm much better looking if I can say so myself—"

_True._

"See? You are just proving my point. You are an arrogant git!"

"Aw c'mon," James persisted as another song came on picking up the beat. Lily rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Fine…" It wasn't that bad actually. In fact, an hour had passed, and Lily was having a much better time. Out of breath, the two of them took a seat, James was watching her carefully.

"What?" Lily asked, feeling self conscious. James smiled lightly.

"Nothing, but did I tell you? You look beautiful tonight." Lily blushed. Why did he do this to her? How did her do this to her? Every time he talked to her she was so mesmerized by his hazel stare. She wanted to tell him how extremely handsome he looked but she just said:

"You don't look too bad yourself, Potter," jokingly, although, as she knows herself, she was being quite serious.

"What can I say? I'm just naturally charming and good looking," he said with a sigh. Lily rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a grin.

"Oh, that must be it," she said sarcastically.

"Hey! It's true. Have you seen me?"

Yes

And I'm quite satisfied.

"Unfortunately." She lied.

"Hey now—"

"Lily, there you are! Oh, hello James," Aunt Rose approached, beaming at James, "Well, they're about to cut the cake, c'mon you two…" James grinned, sliding away. Lily frowned, she didn't have a good feeling about this, but before she could stop him, her aunt pulled her by the arm.

"Lily, why didn't you tell me about James, huh?" she asked, winking.

"Auntie, he's just a friend. I told him not to come but he didn't listen, and he's going to do something stupid—"

"Sure he is, I saw how you were dancing with him."

"Okay…well I like him a bit." Her aunt beamed, "I said only a bit! Anyway, he just broke up with his girlfriend—"

"Wonderful, he's available, now, go stand by him! You don't want to leave him all alone!" Lily obliged, and hearing her Aunt Rose whisper something that sounded like 'Ah young love'. Cursing herself for telling her aunt that she fancied James, she found James slinking near the edge of the crowd, fiddling with something in his pocket.

"James Harold Potter, don't you even try." James turned, flashed a grin, and laughed.

"Hey- Er. How do you know my middle name?" He asked curiously.

"Woah! Thats seriously your middle name? I just guessed!" Lily said grinning.

"Oh, where did Harold come from anyway?"

"It's my father's name." Lily stopped short but James didn't seem to notice. Oh no he's going to ask her, he's going to ask her about her parents. Damn!

"Oh yeah speaking of your-" Then someone's voice drowned out the rest of his sentence. They turned to see everyone cheering as Petunia and Vernon cut the cake together. Lily chuckled.

"I never thought I'd see the day when that girl got married." Lily muttered trying to change the subject.

"She doesn't look anything like you," James noted. Lily shrugged.

"I suppose not, I've been told I look like my mother."

_Shite!_

_Lily!_

_Damn. Damn. DAMN!_

"Really? Where is she anyway? You haven't introduced me. After all, who knows, I might be your future husband." Lily snorted, although she felt the color drain from her face and she felt her throat getting tight. After a bit of silence, James noticed, "Are you alright Lils?" No, in fact she was starting to feel rather sick.

"Um, yeah, I think I need to sit down…" Why did he have to bring that up? She couldn't help wonder while James took her by the arm and steered to an empty seat, looking at her with a concerned expression, his soft hazel eyes searching her bright green ones. She felt them beginning to water and looked away.

"Lily, are you sure nothings wrong? You've been acting funny lately. That' s not just tonight either so don't even try—"

"Of course nothing is wrong," Lily snapped, blinking away tears. She looked hard at her feet. James was so stupid! She told him not to come, damn it! She needed to control herself…don't let your emotions get the best of you. God, her head hurt all of a sudden.

"Right…you know, you can tell me these things. I am your friend now, remember? I've told you my secrets. I trust you," he looked at her expectantly, and Lily determinedly looked away. Her head was throbbing terribly.

"I think I'm going to get something to drink." Lily said, her voice rather shaky. 'Lily, get control of yourself, this is not the time to fall apart!' she scolded. Trying to take controlled breaths, she heard James yelling after her.

"Lily, hold on! Wait…" Lily stopped and waited for James to catch up, "Lily—"

"Listen James, you weren't supposed to come. I think you better go home." James didn't even bother to hide his hurt. He frowned, and Lily felt guilty but ignored the feeling.

"Why?"

"Just…just because."

"That isn't a reason Lily. I thought you were having fun." Lily could tell he sounded hurt, but at the moment she wasn't thinking too much about it.

"I was."

"What did I do? I don't get it, how did I mess up this time?"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, confused. She suddenly felt like she might be sick right there on James Potter's shoes.

That thought in itself—if possible—made her feel sicker.

She really needed to lie down.

"I mean, how is everything I do wrong? I tried to change, really. I was trying to be a little less of a prat, trying to be as nice…to everyone! Being a better person, just for you! But that doesn't matter does it? You'll never like me. Admit it, you're always going to hold that grudge on me, still treating me like the same person I was at fifteen. I've CHANGED Lily."

"I know—"

"No, you don't know. If you knew you would've given me a chance, wouldn't you?" Lily just blinked, unsure of what to say. James took a deep breath, "If this is how you want it to be, fine. I'll leave. Satisfied?" Without another word, James turned and walked away. Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, Lily called after him, but her voice only came out as a whisper.

"James." Then, it happened.

She fainted.

A/N: This chapter took me surprisingly a long time to write, well more than the others, and its not even that long! But it's better then nothing. I just realized I keep leaving cliffs…I dunno why but I love writing them! Drop a review and lemme know what you think.


	16. An Emotional Wreck

**Disclaimer: Not mine. on with the story.**

Chapter 16- An Emotional Wreck

Lily heard voices around her, whisperings. Lily opened a bleary eye. She blinked, taking in her surroundings. She was in a room lying on a large, stuffed, red sofa, her aunt was whispering to a cousin of hers named Claudia. Her head hurt and her arms ached when she attempted to prop herself up on her elbows. Lily groaned and the girl gasped and Aunt Rose's head snapped around.

"Lily! Oh dear, what happened? Are you alright?" Her Aunt asked worriedly.

"What am I doing here? Where are we?"

"You fainted," Claudia said in awe. She had to be only twelve, her chestnut hair was done curly and pinned back nicely.

"Oh." Lily felt a blush rise in her cheeks as she was embarrassed, about fainting she means, who faints anymore, really?

"We're just in a room down the hall. How are you feeling? Are you alright? Good gracious, was it just the heat? I knew it was getting a bit stuffy in there…" her aunt was talking rapidly but Lily wasn't listening, instead she was looking at a boy who was sitting quietly, watching her. A very very handsome boy, with untidy hair and glasses.

Lily gave James a weak smile but he didn't return it.

Oh Merlin.

He was still mad at her. Lily felt tears coming to her eyes and she hugged her knees, no longer looking at James.

His eyes were sad.

They looked….

Disappointed

Sorry, and almost…

_Sympathetic? _

Lily wasn't sure. All she knew was she couldn't look into them anymore. He _hated_ her. He had to hate her now. All she had ever been was horrible to him. Meanwhile, her aunt seemed to have trailed off and was looking between the pair of them tentatively. Lily didn't notice. She was busy counting the marble specks in the floor tile. She fainted, making a fool of herself in front James—who hated her now. Wonderful. She knew this wedding was going to be horrid from the start.

"Well…I suppose we can give you two some privacy."

"Privacy…" Claudia sniggered. Lily broke off from her own thoughts and looked up to see her aunt giving her worried glances.

"I'm feeling fine." Lily quipped, Aunt Rose looked at James again, and James nodded, still looking somber.

"Lily, I'm going to go back out so everyone doesn't worry. I think James…er…wanted to talk to you. Come on now Claudia…Lily I'll be down the hallway. Come back the wedding as soon as you're ready. Everyone is sure to be asking about you dear." Lily blinked and nodded. It wasn't that big of a deal, she just fainted. It wasn't anything life threatening.

"I can go back now. I think I just need some water—" she said, doing everything possible not to look a James. There was no way her aunt would leave her alone with James. She gave her aunt the look that clearly said, 'do-not-leave-me-alone-with-this-boy.' It couldn't have been clearer.

"Well, in just a moment, I believe James wanted to talk to you…privately." Lily gaped at her, lost for words.

She had eye contact and everything!

How had her aunt _not_ gotten that message?

"But—" her aunt smiled before her and Claudia left, their heels clicking down the hallway after them. It was silent for a moment, and Lily was very aware of James watching her carefully—like she could explode at any given moment.

"What?" Lily snapped finally, "You wanted to talk to me, I'm here. Although a minute ago, you didn't seem so eager." James dropped his gaze, looking ashamed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was just…angry. I know that's no excuse, but…" he trailed off and looked back at Lily again. Lily met his warm eyes, and suddenly she wanted to jump on him and snog him senseless!

She wanted to make his square spectacles askew and that tangled mess he calls hair even _more_ disheveled.

_Oh_, How she _hated_ hormones.

However, that was highly uncalled for and most likely she would be driving James insane. She restrained herself and settled with a smile.

"It's okay, I suppose I haven't been the best either. You were right and all…you have changed, but—"

"It's okay Lily," James said, a weak, defeated looking smile coming on, "I mean, I'm glad we've become friends this year. We can still be friends…right?"

"Of course!" Lily said, shocked.

God, didn't he get it?

She _liked_ him!

Why wouldn't he let her talk?

"I—" But Lily was cut off, James continued.

"Friends tell each other things, right?"

"Yes—"

"So why didn't you tell me?" James asked. Lily paused, confused.

"Tell you what?" Lily asked. Did he know she liked him?

"About what happened during the summer." He asked, Lily stopped, her breath seemed to catch in her throat. James seemed to catch her fear. "Lily I—"

"How did you find out?" she croaked.

"Your aunt, after you fainted, I told someone to get her parents and they got her. I asked her where your mum and dad were. She was surprised I didn't know and all. She said that they died last summer, and then she looked as if she were going to cry. I felt awful," he paused, "Lily, I'm so sorry." Lily let out a dry sob and didn't say anything. Before she knew it, she was sobbing outright. Tears, she had never let fall were tumbling down as if someone had turned on the faucets—there was no way to shut them off. James looked as if he didn't no what to do. He probably didn't do well with crying girls. Feeling weak, foolish, and guilty, Lily gathered herself up and ran out before James could stop her. She couldn't think, she could barely breathe. She ran all the way outside into the biting cold December night. She didn't have a jacket, but she didn't care. She couldn't feel the cold biting at her skin. Sitting down, she curled her legs up again and put her chin on her knees, letting her tears flow freely. She heard the door open—James had followed her out. What more had she expected really? This was James she was talking about. He didn't say anything, he just sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze.

"It'll be alright," he said softly. Lily turned to him, her eyes meeting his, but she didn't look away.

"I…it…I'm sorry," Lily said quietly, avoiding his eyes now, "It's just…you weren't supposed to find out and—"

"Why?" he interrupted curiously.

"Because…because…I'm not perfect James!" she yelled. James looked a little surprised by this answer.

"What are you—?"

"It was all my fault!" Lily cried out, shooting up, now backing away from him.

"Lily—"

"He killed them because of ME!" Lily was sobbing now. Strands of hair had fallen out of her bun, and she was shaking Lily got up and tried to look anywhere but him. She looked like an emotional wreck, a beautiful one James might say, but an emotional wreck all the same. He stood up, but once he moved near her, Lily took a step back.

"Lily, it isn't your fault. None of this was your fault—"

"Stop it! I could've have stopped them…I…I…my mum couldn't defend herself and…and...that, that dirty bastard laughed!" Lily yelled in anguish. She fell to her knees again, crying, "That's what he did when he killed her…he laughed," she said in a voice so quiet, James could hardly hear her. He was torn. What should he do? Lily was a mess, and he had no idea how to comfort her. Lily gave a few large, dry sobs, sitting on the cold ground, shaking half in grief the other half in cold.

"Lily, listen to me," Lily's emerald eyes lifted off the ground. They were red now from crying and she wiped them hurriedly.

"I shouldn't be crying," she mumbled, ashamed. She stood up and shivered, "Can we go in?" James nodded and followed her back inside.

"Lily?" Lily sniffled and didn't respond, "None of that was your fault."

"James," she said quietly. James stopped talking and watched her carefully, "V-Voldemort killed my parents. He murdered them. He was a wizard. I'm a witch. I didn't do anything. I…" she made a choking sound that sounded as if she were strangling her tears, "I saw him kill her." Suddenly her face turned hard, and she wiped her eyes again, "I'm going to kill him if it's the last thing I ever do."

"Lily—"

"Don't try to convince me otherwise!" Lily yelled. She looked around almost wildly, as if she were about to run off again, "I can do whatever the hell I want James!"

"I'm not saying you can't!" James yelled, getting frustrated. Sure, Lily was upset, but did she have to have a total break down? Lily got quiet and sat on the couch she was laying on before. She buried her face in her hands. James took a seat next to her and did the only thing he could think of—he hugged her. Surprised, but not disappointed, Lily hugged him back, burying her face into his shoulder. James wasn't sure how much time had past, but his shirt was a bit wet with Lily's tears. Finally, she picked her head up, her eyes now red and puffy, but she smiled.

"Thanks James…I'm…I'm sorry for not telling you." She dropped her gaze, "I haven't told anyone."

"Lily it isn't your fault. None of this is." Lily just gave him a sad smile, "I'm really sorry about your parents though. You can talk to me about if you need to." Lily sniffed slightly.

"I need to use the ladies room…will you wait for me?" James blinked, as Lily bit her lip looking at him anxiously, "You won't leave just yet, right? I mean…if you want to then…"

"Of course not! You aren't trying to get rid of me now, are you? I mean after all we've been through, love." he gave her that cocky grin, and Lily let out a shaky laugh. Whatever happened, at least she could count on James to still be…James. Lily turned to leave but stopped in the doorway. Before she knew what she was doing, she'd flung her arms around him giving him a tight hug. Pulling away, she hesitated before giving him a light peck on the cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered, before disappearing. James touched the spot on his cheek where Lily had kissed him. Maybe he wasn't hopeless after all.

The rest of the night wasn't a complete waste. Lily and James went back to the party. It wasn't hard to slip back in among the laughter, dancing, and champagne. Lily felt awkward but James seemed to be perfectly at ease. He didn't say anything except 'dance with me' and Lily happily obliged. Before she knew it, she was smiling along with everyone else and the night slowly ended without any other drama. Thank Merlin. Lily had enough to last the rest of her life. She and James had gone outside, away from all the muggle guests. James couldn't apperate in front of them. Although James insisted it would be great fun to see their faces.

"Lily?" James' voice brought her back to reality.

"Oh...er…sorry, what did you say?"

"I told my mum I'd be back by midnight…"

"Oh, right…well…thanks for coming and all…even if you weren't invited," Lily said, grinning. Her smile faded a bit as she added, "And…well…thanks for listening to me. I don't know why I broke down like that. It was stupid of me."

"It wasn't—"

"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you before…you were right." Lily avoided his eyes, "Thanks for just being…well…you."

"Yeah..well, that's what I do best," he said lightheartedly. He really didn't want Lily to start crying again. Lily let out something that sounded like half a sob and half a laugh. She didn't look up, and James shifted awkwardly.

"Well…I'll see you back at Hogwarts. You'll owl me, right?" He asked hopefully Lily finally looked up.

"Yeah, definitely." She said smiling

"Okay then…Happy Christmas Lily."

"Happy Christmas James." They looked at each other for just a second, then with a small pop, James apperated.

**A/N: Sorry for not updating fast enough, I usually do pretty quickly. Review? I like to know your thoughts. Hate it or love it? Oh and by the way I'm going to be gone for a week! But I'll be thinking what should happen next and if I come back and theres a booty-load of reviews I'll make the next one extra exciting! ;) Ta-Ta darlings!**


	17. Countdown

**Disclaimer: I'm getting really sick of writing these so from now on, for every future chapter. I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! There. I'm not writing it again. Read on!**

Chapter 17- Countdown

Christmas came and went. It was rather lonely for Lily, since it was only her and Aunt Rose. She hadn't talked to her friends all break although Gwen had owled her to ask how the wedding went, Lily decided not respond. She had, however, talked to James…well and Sirius. In fact, she was waiting for another letter from him. She'd written to him a couple days ago and was hoping for a response. She was home by herself since Aunt Rose had gone grocery shopping.

As if reading her mind, there was a tap at her window sill, a large barn owl that she immediately recognized as Turnip, James' owl. She didn't really understand the name but then again, it was James. She reached over and opened it. Turnip swept in, dropping the letter on the table. Lily smiled and stroked him a few times. She loved animals, but never got an owl herself, although they were quite useful. She gave Turnip her piece of toast she'd been picking at then picked up the letter and quickly tore it open.

_Lily,_

_It took Sirius over an hour to get off that Chinese finger trap you got him for Christmas. He finally tried it on yesterday. He was rather upset with me though for not helping him. It was quite a laugh though, thanks for that. Actually, I had a question for you. My parents always have this New Years Eve party and this year she was letting me invite some friends. Would you like to come? It'll be fun, all the guys will be here and I invited Gwen and Julie too. Please say you'll come? _

_-James._

_P.S. Oh, it's a bit fancy, so if you want to wear a dress or however you like to dress up. Anyway, see you then! _

Lily smiled. A New Year's party? Of course, she'd go! She'd ask her aunt as soon as she came home. Aunt Rose always thought New Years was overrated, so Lily knew she wouldn't mind. Another twenty minutes past by before Aunt Rose walked through the door.

"Lily? Lily, dear? Could you help me with these groceries—"

"Aunt Rose, you're back! Sure, let me get all these," she said, eagerly taking them off her hands, then giving her Aunt a generous smile. Aunt Rose gave her niece an amused look.

"What do you want dearie?"

"Me? Nothing really," then she paused, "Actually, I was wondering if I could go to this party on New Years Eve."

"A party?"

"Yes, remember James, well he invited me."

"Ah James, yes, James Potter, how could I forget," she asked, smiling broadly.

"Yes well…"

"That's the boy you fancy, isn't it?"

"Er…"

"You didn't make your move at the wedding so you'll have to at this one. Of course you can't miss it!" she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling, "Now, what you have to do is—"

"Auntie, don't start!" Lily said rolling her eyes jokingly.

"What?"

"It's not like that. James and I are friends. Only friends."

"Oh, that's right, 'friends'," she winked, "I'll keep that in mind. You're only 'friends'." Aunt Rose tittered to herself as she walked past Lily, leaving her in the kitchen, arms full with groceries.

It was six o'clock so she decided to get ready. She wore the same black dress from the wedding but just added a green cardigan, she put on a bit of mascara and lip gloss, then a pair of diamond earrings. It was only six forty five so she had time to do her hair. She curled her auburn locks so they fell in waves around her shoulders. She took a good look in the mirror and decided she looked decent. Lily looked at the muggle clock. It was about a quarter past seven. Glancing at herself once more in the mirror, she was ready.

"Aunt Rose? I'm leaving!" she yelled at the top of the stairs. At the same time, Aunt Rose gave a little yell. Her Aunt was cuddled up on the couch watching some old style horror movie.

"Don't open the closet! Stupid girl…" She shouted at the screen, then saw Lily and got up, soon her head popped up in the doorway, "Oh…sorry Lily, do have fun dearie. Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Snag this Potter kid and don't be home too late." There was a scream on the television, and Lily rolled her eyes. . Aunt Rose disappeared back into the living room, and Lily took a breath. Focus, the three D's. She tried not to think about the queasy feeling in her stomach. Then she got that odd feeling in her navel before she apperated with a pop.

She found herself on the doorstep of the Potter's house. From just the outside, she could tell it was huge. Nervously, she knocked on the brass lion on the front door. About ten seconds there was a crash, some yelling, and finally Sirius Black opened the door, huffing slightly.

"Evans, nice to see you," he said, trying to regain his composure. He looked her up and down and smirked "you look rather spiffing," He said wriggling his eyebrows. Lily blushed deeply while Sirius just grinned more.

"Bug off Padfoot, hey Lily," James added, appearing behind his friend. He looked at her just as his best mate did "W-wow Lily you look.. Er.. Very nice"

"Hi guys and thanks!" Lily said blushing again, taking a step inside. The hall was large with marble flooring, the walls were gold covered with tapestries and paintings.

"Hey, c'mon, everyone else is already in the ballroom." Lily stared.

"You have a ballroom?" Lily asked surprisingly.

"Yeah…my mum's idea. She loves throwing grand parties and all. She never makes me go anymore though."

"Yeah, after you turned the minister's hair green," Sirius muttered.

"Aw, c'mon I was what…twelve? Thirteen?"

"Yeah and—" Sirius began

"You turned the Minister of Magic's hair green?" Lily asked incredulously. James smiled sheepishly.

"Well…Sirius let out fifty bats into the party! He was part of the mayhem too!"

"I didn't get caught," Sirius reminded smugly. James scowled but stopped when he opened the two double doors.

"Right. My mom knew it was you the whole time she just—"

"No! She thought it was you! Remember? You were grounded for a month!"

"That was because—"

"Wow," whispered Lily, ignoring the bickering. It was a large room with a tall ceiling and bright torches and candles lit up the room. It was filled with guests in their best dresses or suits and the whole place seemed to sparkle (James pointed out later that there was fairy dust everywhere). Music was playing and people were dancing. On the opposite side a long table of food sat out where people were lingering and chatting idly. Then Lily spotted a familiar blonde haired girl in a turquoise dress, whispering in some strange boy's ear.

"Gwen!" she waved. Gwen immediately looked her direction and grinned. She said something to the boy and he looked disappointed as Gwen flounced away.

"Lily! You came! James was going crazy. He was afraid you weren't going to make it."

"Oh…but I was on time," Lily said glancing at James. James, who had been mouthing something to Gwen, jumped suddenly.

"Oh…no…I mean, I knew you were coming, I just…er…you'd never apperated to my house, and…are you hungry?"

"No…not right now," Lily answered, smiling lightly. She and Gwen exchanged glances. Then Gwen's blue eyes lit up.

"I haven't told you yet! Sirius, James, she doesn't know, does she?" The boys shook their heads. Sirius was smirking and James was pressing his lips together, obviously trying not to laugh.

"What?" Lily demanded, "What aren't you all telling me?"

"Oh, it's about a few of our friends…" Gwen began. Lily waited impatiently.

"Tell me!"

"Let's play the guessing game!" Sirius suggested.

"No! I'm serious—"

"Sorry love, that'd be me," Sirius piped up. Lily swatted at his head, and James let out a chuckle of laughter.

"James, you tell me!"

"No can do. Gwen wanted to be the one who gets the honor."

"Fine, I just won't talk to any of you!" Lily said, turning away.

"Okay, well, it's about Julie," Gwen said, making Lily turn back around.

"Where, is she by the way?" Gwen just smirked, ignoring Lily.

"Well…I ended up hanging out with her to talk about…well…to talk about you to be honest, but more about that later—"

"Wait, what?" Lily asked

"ANYWAY," she continued, over Lily's questions and shouts, "We got on the subject of her and Remus."

"So?" Lily had almost forgotten about that, she'd been so wrapped up in her own problems.

"So?" Gwen said impatiently, "Well…I was still upset with her, you know, but that wasn't the point. The point is…I found out some information."

"You know, why won't you just say it? You're spending all this time going around the actual story!" Gwen grinned.

"It's more fun this way, but I'll tell you now. Julie doesn't hate Remus." Gwen paused as if waiting for a reaction. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

"Well, yeah, isn't that great?"

"Of course she never hated him!"

"Okay, sorry Gwen, you suck at revealing information," Sirius interrupted. Gwen scowled and crossed her arms.

"I am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not—"

"Will you two shut up?" James interrupted, "Okay, what Gwen meant to say is Julie…well…she has more than just 'friendly' feelings toward Remus—"

"She looooooves him," Sirius sang. Gwen smacked him, "Ow! What was that for." Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Now why do I doubt that?"

"Cause she was being an idiot. She scared herself out of it," Gwen informed smartly, "Which is why we're pushing her back into it."

"I'm not sure if that's the best of idea's…" Lily began, frowning.

"Too late," Sirius said cheerfully.

"What do you mean 'too late'?"

"He means, Remus and Julie are locked together in a broom closet. For the rest of the year, mind you."

"Which is coming to a close anyhow," Sirius threw in. Lily gawked at the three of them.

"You what?"

"Yeah and—"

"GWEN!"

"What?"

"POTTER, BLACK!" Lily couldn't believe them. Knowing Gwen, Julie might've said how she wished she'd never known Remus and in Gwen's world, that mean they were head over heels in love.

"What is all this yelling about?" came a voice from behind Lily. It was as light as water, and Lily quickly spun around to see a woman slightly shorter then her with dark, shiny black hair. She had a dark, finely shaped eyebrow raised and was holding a glass of champagne in one hand.

"Oh, hi mum…sorry…that was…uh…Sirius' fault." She smiled.

"Really? I heard the name 'Potter' being yelled across the room."

"It's not his fault. Evans just has a big yap—" Lily resisted the urge to kick Sirius in the shins. Instead she muttered an apology.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to—"

"Oh, mom, this is Lily! Lily this is my mum!" James said, interrupting quickly, his face brightening. Mrs. Potter smiled brightly.

"This is Lily? Well, Lily, I've heard much about you. You are very beautiful" She smiled

"Oh…well thank you…I swear I'm not as bad as James makes me out to be—" Sirius stifled a laugh while James just blinked.

"Bad? Oh don't worry Lily, he makes you sound like an angel. I swear, I feel like all he ever talks about is you sometimes. It's nice to finally see you in the flesh." James coughed loudly. Mrs. Potter seemed to realize that she was embarrassing James. However, she didn't seem too remorseful, "Well, wonderful to meet you Lily. I'll see you kids later…" Then she paused, "Where's Remus?"

"Dancing," Sirius said as James said "Bathroom." Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes and strolled off.

"Smooth guys, smooth," Gwen remarked, rolling her eyes as Mrs. Potter just had.

"You guys are horrible," Lily muttered, looking at her three friends.

"You still love us," Gwen said, casually waving away Lily's comment.

"Gwen, would you like to dance?" Sirius asked abruptly. Gwen stared at him, then smiled.

"It's about time you asked."

A little before midnight, they'd finally quit dancing to eat a little.

"Hey James, where's your bathroom?" Lily asked.

"Eh? Oh, just go left, then right, then when you get to a portrait with an old guy in a white wig take a left. Take an immediate right and it's the second door on the left." Lily blinked at him, trying to take it all in.

"Okay…" Gwen was too busy flirting with Sirius to notice that Lily was trying to make eye contact with her. James was filling his plate up with more food, so Lily left by herself.

"Did he say right or left?" she muttered to herself as she saw the portrait he was talking about. She went right and kept walking. There was a noise to the left of her and she stopped walking. It sounded like a tap. Tap, tap, tap. Pause….tap, tap, tap, tap.

"Quit that, it's getting annoying," came a muffled voice. Hesitantly, Lily put her hand on the doorknob. It was coming from that room.

"Sorry," came another voice. It sounded familiar…she opened it carefully. It was a dark closet. That was it. Then an arm popped out and grabbed her. Lily let out a shriek and fell backward.

"Lily?" came the voice. It was Remus. He straightened the navy blue jacket he was wearing and brushed off.

"Remus?"

"LILY!" Julie cried, tumbling out, after him. Her green dress was wrinkled a bit on the bottom and strands of hair had fallen out of her updo.

"Is Sirius and James with you?" Remus asked cautiously.

"No, I got lost going to the bathroom. Wait, they locked you guys up in here? In the dark?"

"They told you, did they?" Julie asked darkly.

"I'm so sore, we've been stuck in there for hours."

"Yeah, you have. It's almost midnight. About fifteen minutes until."

"Wow…I fell asleep for a while I think," Julie muttered. There was an awkward silence. Then…

"How was your Christmas Lily?" Remus asked.

"Good. Yours?"

"Fine."

"Oh, how'd the wedding go?" Julie asked, glad to be talking about something.

"Oh…alright…James came." Lily said.

"Really?" Julie asked grinning

"Really."

"So, did anything happen?" Lily gave her a look that clearly said 'shut-up', "I mean, do you still like him?" Remus' mouth dropped and he looked at Lily.

"Julie—I"

"I don't see why you two just don't get together. James has become much more bearable this year—"

"Wait, Lily, you like James?" Remus interrupted. Julie froze. She seemed to have forgotten about Remus.

"Uh…"

"Oh Merlin."

"Julie, shut up." Lily sanpped

"You like James." Remus repeated

"Okay, no need to shout it to the whole household Remus," Lily snapped irritably, "So…maybe I like him a bit."

"Lily Evans fancies James Potter!" Remus shouted while cupping his hands around his mouth.

"REMUS!" Lily quipped, Remus laughed.

"Sorry…I mean, I guess I knew it all along. You've been in denial for awhile…but to actually hear you say it. Wow."

"Oh shut up." Then Lily glared at Julie, "Thanks a lot Julie. I should lock you two back up in that closet."

"No!" they both shouted.

"No offense to you," Remus added, glancing at Julie sideways, "but that wasn't…uh…"

"We both hate the dark," Julie supplied.

"Fine. You two keep your traps shut, okay? Now the rest of them are going to be mad that I let you out so you owe me…"

"You let us out on accident though, so you weren't trying to help us. Why do we owe you?"

"Julie…" Julie smirked and the two girls followed Remus back to the ballroom. Lily groaned.

"Oh, I never got to go the bathroom."

"Why?"

"I got lost." Lily reminded

"Oh yeah…"

"MOONY!" came a yell. A few people looked over, giving them odd looks. Sirius and James parted their way through the crowd.

"What is this? How did you…" James stopped and his eyes fell on Lily, "Lily! Why'd you go and do that!" he yelled accusingly.

"It was an accident. I was trying to find the bathroom. Besides, you guys all pulled a pretty mean stunt on them to begin with."

"Well, it's ten minutes 'til midnight," Sirius said, shrugging, "We'd have gotten them in a bit anyhow."

"True. Don't worry Lils, we've already forgiven you."

"Forgiven me? I didn't do anything wrong!" Lily said, James just smiled, "Okay, well, can you help me find that stupid bathroom?" Gwen appeared at her elbow.

"Let's go. We'll be back before next year." Lily rolled her eyes as Gwen steered her out. She spent the entire walk talking about how she wanted to get Julie and Remus back together. When she got out of the bathroom Gwen continued speaking.

"Gwen," She interrupted "don't you think that if they're meant to be together, it'll happen."

"Yes, but I, for one, would like to speed up the process." They made their way back the party when Gwen suddenly yelled, "Hurry up, there's less than a minute!" Lily and Gwen raced down, flinging open the doors. People were counting down.

"Eleven-ten-nine—"

"Oh there they are!" Gwen said, slipping by and jumping behind James and Sirius who'd been bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"Six-five-"

"I was afraid you wouldn't have made it," James said so quietly that Lily barely heard him.

"Four-"

"Why?"

"Because, then I couldn't do this—"

"ONE!" As streamers blew, confetti flew, fireworks exploded, people yelled and cheered, James bent down and kissed Lily deeply on the lips. For a moment, it was like time had stopped. Lily closed her eyes while she got lost in the moment. It was just like she dreamed it would be. He was so perfect. Then unfortunately James pulled away, looking at her anxiously. He ran a hand through his hair, his hazel eyes searching hers. Their friends were all staring, as if expecting Lily to explode.

Instead Lily, still surprised softly whispered, "Oh," then she smiled.

**A/N: Yeah! i had fun writing this chapter. Sorry the title is kinda lame but I decided it didn't matter that much, I just really wanted to post this one. tell me what you think! And you better like it cause I'm not gonna be updating till another week! D:**


	18. Back to NormalAlmost

**Chapter 18—Back to Normal—Almost. **.

She'd snogged James Potter senseless after that. Overall, it wasn't a shabby way to start the new year. The Marauders were staying at James' house for the rest of break, but the girls had decided to leave around two that morning, all of them tired out.

"Thanks for coming, see you Gwen!" James shouted to Gwen while she made her way out the door. Gwen smiled then appearated. Julie did the same after saying thank you.

"Well, I should go too, my aunt is expecting me and all…" Lily James grinned.

"Thanks for coming." Lily grinned back and kissed him softly before slowly pulling away.

"Thank you," she backed up, getting ready to leave.

"Lily, hold on," James said quickly. Lily waited as James paused. He looked slightly nervous.

Ha

James Potter?

Nervous?

Lily withheld a grin as she waited. "So…I was wondering, wanna be my girlfriend Ev-uh.. Lily?" Lily laughed. He was so adorable. She grinned and nodded.

"Yes, I would like that quite a bit." He leaned in and kissed her again, pulling her closer into a passionate kiss. Finally, Lily pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Er—I better go. See you back at school James!" then she smiled before appearating back home. She arrived in her kitchen, and she could hear the TV going on in the next room. Curiously, she peeked in. Her aunt was hanging off the couch snoring. Lily sniggered and went in to turn off the television. Immediately, her aunt sat up, yawning.

"Hey, I was watching that!" she muttered tiredly, "Lily…how was your party? Welcome to the year 1973!" she added, sitting up. She was in her bathrobe.

"Waiting up for me, auntie?"

"Mmhm…that or I fell asleep during the movie," she said tiredly. She let out another yawn and gave her niece a small smile, "Well, I'm off to bed." She stretched and got up but paused and looked at Lily, "So, how was your party?" she questioned again.

"Fun. It was…interesting." Aunt Rose raised her eyebrows and then winked.

"Eh, I knew you had it in you. So…James Potter, what is he like again?" Aunt Rose asked as they both headed upstairs. Lily felt herself reddening.

"Oh…you know…it's nothing serious. He's just nice and funny and cute and—"

"And absolutely in love with you," she added grinning, "I saw the way he looked at you at the wedding. Girl, that boy has it bad."

"Aunt Rose—!"

"Okay, okay, well, I thought he was a sweet boy, so good for you, hun." She let out another yawn, "I'm not as young as I used to be. I need my rest! Goodnight Lily!" she called before heading into her own room. Lily sighed and quickly changed into her own pajamas. She wasn't very tired though. She was thinking about the unbelievable. After all, she'd sworn she'd never like a prick like James Potter. Now she was dating him and worse…

she'd fallen for him.

Hard.

The rest of winter break went by quickly. It was only a matter of time before she was back on the Hogwarts Express. She'd kept in touch with James by owl but hadn't seen him since New Years. The day back was cloudy and overcast. Lily had appearated to Kings Cross to find all her friends already there. Gwen, Julie and Alice were talking all to each other.

"LILY!" Alice cried running up and hugging her. Lily practically fell over her own trunk. Alice smiled, "Oops. Sorry Lils. How are you? How was your Christmas? I can't believe you're going out with JAMES POTTER!" she yelled. Lily glared at her to shut up.

"I believe I heard my name?" Said a familiar voice, Lily turned to see James and the other Marauders coming up behind them. Lily couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face at the sight of James. He came up behind her and put an arm around her waist. Lily kissed his cheek lightly as a greeting. Of course this spurred 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the group and people began whispering to one another excitedly. Lily scowled and swatted at Gwen who was smirking widely and whispering to Julie.

"Hello Sirius, Remus, Peter," Lily said, acknowledging the rest of the Marauders. They were all wearing identical smirks. Yeah, yeah, get over it. Lily and James were finally together.

"Let's find a compartment, shall we?" Sirius asked, in a rather cheery manner. Gwen rolled her eyes while Julie and Lily exchanged looks and shook their heads.

"'Course Siris," Gwen said in mock happiness.

"Oh! Let me go find Frank."

"Oh yeah, how was your Christmas?" Lily asked, suddenly remembering Alice had stayed at Frank's. Alice grinned.

"Great. But…" Alice began, Gwen burst into laughter while Alice frowned, "Gwen, it's not funny…"

"What?" Lily asked confused. Alice huffed and walked off to find Frank while Gwen tried to control herself.

"Alice…she's…terrified…of…Mrs. Longbottom," Gwen choked out finally. Julie smiled and shook her head. The whistle blew on the train and everyone turned to the scarlet steam engine now billowing smoke.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm getting on the train, besides, it's freezing out here," Julie muttered, pulling her cloak closer for gesture. They all boarded on the train, luggage and all. It was a peaceful train ride. Well, as peaceful as it ever got with the Marauders. A few games of Exploding Snap, shrieks, a wrestling match, and Alice going on a sugar rush, they arrived back to Hogwarts.

"James, we're stealing Lily from you," Alice announced when they arrived back and the whole group was situated in the common room later that evening.

"What?" James asked quickly. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we need to talk. Girls night," Julie declared. The three of them were exchanging knowing glances. Lily didn't like it one bit.

"Oh goodie," Lily muttered sarcastically. Sirius let out a bark like laugh.

"What are you laughing at Black?" Gwen snapped while Sirius sniggered.

"Hey! You're the one having a slumber party," he started sniggering again.

"It is not a slumber party!" they all cried in unison. Gwen sniffed and raised her chin.

"I'm not going to listen to this calumny," she exclaimed dramatically. She headed toward the girls dormitory as gracefully as possible, "Say goodnight to Jamsie, Lillian," Gwen teased before running up the stairs. Lily rolled her eyes.

She would never hear the end of this.

Julie and Alice bid everyone goodnight before heading after Gwen.

"Hmm…so, why aren't we invited to your slumber party?" Sirius asked, prodding Lily in the arm. Lily scowled. He grinned widely.

"Sirius, it is not a slumber party!" Lily said, rolling her eyes, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to join them." She gave James a quick peck on the lips and began to pull away when she pulled him back, and Lily almost forgot about going upstairs—she was too busy lost in her kiss.

_James_

'What that boy can do to me' Lily thought to herself. She smiled against the kiss and he smiled back, she was hardly used to this

….she was still in slight shock.

After all, this wasn't an everyday occurrence you get to have a snogging session with the head Marauder!

Well, not until recently anyway.

Lily could literally do this for hours, days maybe.

And thats when Sirius' hoots brought her back to earth.

They separated.

Lily wacked him

Heh

"Goodnight Sirius, Remus, Peter," she said grinning at them James and her both pink in the face, "Goodnight James," she said lastly, smiling at him.

Was she blushing?

Her cheeks felt hot.

He just smirked back.

Oh that bloody smirk

Yup, just keep on doing it

You have no idea what it does.

"'Night Lily Flower." Lily shook her head and turned, heading to the girls dormitory. All of them were pulling on pajamas. Gwen was singing some song she'd never heard of at the top of her lungs.

"…_and I can't live without you! Your curse is too much to spa-_"

"Shut up, will you?" came a voice from behind the curtains of one of the beds. Michelle's head poked out, "Can you all be more obnoxious?" she snapped.

"Sorry," Gwen said insincerely. Michelle muttered insults under her breath, disappearing back into the curtains. Alice was trying not to giggle.

"Gwen, honestly, your vocals do need some working on," Julie teased.

"Har, har, alright, so…this meeting is going to be dedicated to Mrs. Lily Potter," Gwen began formally.

"Meeting?" Lily asked skeptically, ignoring Julie and Alice's laughter.

"Shut up, Lily, I haven't finished." Gwen cleared her throat, "We may also dedicate this to the lovely couple: Alice and Frank. Now that Alice has met the mother-in-law, it is safe to say she has past inspection—"

"Oh put a sock in it," Alice muttered, her cheeks reddening. Lily chuckled.

"So, first off, we want to know the Lily Evans and James Potter situation. New Years: Evans and Potter snog," Gwen said happily. She did a victory dance, "By the way, I won that bloody bet with Black. He owes me ten gallons."

"You bet ten gallons on my relationship?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps…" Lily rolled her eyes and let Gwen continue, "Anyway, so, tell us, what made you change your mind?" Gwen asked, grinning.

"I don't know. You guys know I already liked him and—" Alice squealed. Gwen smacked her.

"Shut up, let the girl finish." Julie chuckled and Lily found herself rolling her eyes again.

"Anyways, I didn't think anything would happen. He hadn't asked me out. Then I asked him to the wedding and well, he ended up coming anyway, but—"

"Whoa, what?" Julie asked, taken aback.

"Yes."

"When did this happen?" Gwen asked, frowning, "Lily," she whined, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Lily quipped. Gwen opened to retort, but Julie cut her off.

"Okay, start over," Julie said frowning as well, "So, back to the wedding."

"Oh, well, you know how I decided to go alone?" they all nodded. Gwen rolled her eyes, and Lily ignored her, "Anyway, I was pretty miserable. I mean, Petunia was being a complete bitch. My Aunt was going crazy trying to make everything perfect. I was stuck at this wedding listening to condolences or sitting by myself. Actually, a cute guy asked me to dance. I don't remember his name but—"

"Wait, did you say condolences?" Alice interrupted. Lily sighed. She couldn't tell a story, could she?

"Er—yeah. Um, listen, I didn't know how to tell you guys. James found out at Petunia's wedding. I'm sorry, I just…" Lily felt tears building up again. She blinked them away furiously, "I wanted to forget about it. It was stupid of me…"

"What?" Gwen asked gently, but firmly. Lily met her friend's caring blue eyes and gave a feeble smile. She took a breath. This might take a while.

"My parents died over the summer." They all gasped. Alice's jaw was literally hanging. Gwen had flung her arms around Lily, and Julie's eyes had teared up slightly.

"Lily, oh Merlin, I'm soooo sorry! I'm such a bad friend! I didn't even know! I knew something was up! Lily, why didn't you tell us?" she wailed, "How did it happen?" Gwen rambled while Julie wiped her eyes.

"Gwen, I think she could answer better if you weren't strangling her." Alice spoke up finally. Gwen quickly released Lily.

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly. Lily wiped away a few tears that had made their way out. She wasn't supposed to cry. Blasted tears. She explained what had happened. How Petunia had blamed her. How she lived with her Aunt Rose. How Voldemort still haunted her dreams. How she wasn't quick enough. It brought a lot of tears and a lot of hugging. Then she explained the wedding. How James had comforted her, listened to her, how sweet he'd been. It wasn't until New Years that anything had really happened though. They were up most of the night, almost into morning. Everyone discussed their break for a bit, but it was Lily's that had taken up the most time. Of course, Alice's stories about Mrs. Longbottom proved comical.

"I don't know, what do you think Julie?" Gwen asked, yawning, "Alice Longbottom?" Julie chuckled.

"Yes, I like it. I just don't know which one I like more, that or Lily Potter." Lily and Alice scowled at the two of them and crawled into their beds.

"'night!"

"Goodnight."

"Sleep tight!"

"Don't let the bedbugs bite!" Lily called.

"Bedbugs?" Gwen questioned.

"It's a muggle thing," Lily muttered before extinguishing the last light. The giggles faded away. Lily couldn't sleep though. Her thoughts were on James. Odd. She remembered when she used to hate the boy…

"Lily?" came a voice. Lily frowned and sat up. She picked up her wand.

"Lumos." Michelle's curtains were uncovered and she was sitting up as well, "Michelle?" Lily asked, quite confused.

"Yeah, hey, I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Yes, I mean, I realize we don't along great, so sorry if I was a bitch. But you know, born with it… Pretty much my personality. You seemed to have gone through a tough year and all, and I understand how that would feel" Michelle shrugged. Lily was shocked. Michelle Shepherd was apologizing? What was going on? They hated each other!

"Well thanks…"

"I guess I was just so jealous. I mean, I liked James. You hated him, but he still liked you. I guess you guys are, like, an item now?" She questioned.

"Yeah. I guess," Lily said, a small smile reached her lips.

"Okay, well, nothing changes between us, _Evans_. I just wanted you to know I was sorry about your parents and all. I mean, I do have a heart," Michelle reminded.

"Thanks Michelle. That's quite a lot…coming from you. No offense of course." Michelle grumbled

"Right. Well, g'night. However, if you ditch James, I'll be there to pick him up," Michelle reminded, sounding quite like her old self. That made her smile a bit.

"I wouldn't expect anything different," Lily responded. Things were back to normal. Or, as close as she'd ever get.

A/N: So? Long time no see. I'm sorry. I was in New Orleans. So much fun by the way thanks for asking :p. Anywhooo guess what?

Schoooooool!

Bloody offing school

Yup thats right I have finally began school so that means chapters will take longer to update on and I expect more reviews so I can feel better about all the stress :/ Kinda a boring chapter. I was trying to tie up lose ends with Lily's secret and all. I also tried to make Michelle seem somewhat human. Anyway, tell me what you think! R/R. Thanks


	19. Honeydukes Chocolate

Chapter 19 - Honeydukes Chocolate

Lily occupied herself over the return of Hogwarts quite quickly. With Christmas break over and classes resuming, the end of the year seemed much closer. This didn't escape her much, who was frantically beginning to prepare for her N.E.W.T.s. In fact, their first Sunday back at Hogwarts, Lily was in the library outlining a study schedule.

"Lily?" Julie had come in. Her dark brown hair was up in a ponytail, and it swished as she walked. She threw her bag down and sighed, sitting next to Lily, "Whatchya doin'?"

"I just made up my N.E.W.T. study schedule…would you like one?" Lily asked brightly. Julie shook her head.

"I think I'll pass…" she said, giving Lily an amused look, "So…are you hungry? I'm starved."

"Lunch?" Lily offered.

"Yeah…let's go. Besides, I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time here in the coming months," Julie added, scowling at the library, as if it were the dusty shelves fault that they had N.E.W.T.s coming up.

"Okay. Where are the others?"

"Hmm, well James, Sirius, and Gwen at Quidditch...dunno where Peter is. I'm assuming Alice is with Frank since I couldn't find her anywhere…" Julie shrugged.

"Remus?"

"Hospital wing," Julie replied shortly. At Lily's worried and shocked expression, Julie shook her head, "Oh, no, nothing's wrong. He wasn't feeling well…tonight's a full moon and all…" she trailed off. Lily frowned. Shed forgotten it was a full moon tonight.

"It is, isn't it? I'd forgotten," Lily said, feeling slightly guilty. Poor Remus. Lily's frowned deepened, "You're still not harping on that are you?" she asked Julie sharply, "I mean, you've apologized and all, haven't you?"

"Yes, mother," she responded snippily. Her expression softened a bit as she added, "Well, don't go telling Gwen or Sirius, but on New Years…you know, when they ridiculously locked us in that closet…" Lily repressed a smile, "…um…I did end up talking to him about that night. After all, we were stuck there for over four hours!"

"Oh yes, you never did say what happened there."

"Nothing happened," she said stiffly, "I told him I blew the whole…er…thing out of proportion. I mean, you were right, it shouldn't have mattered." Julie shook her head, "But it's different for you. I mean, you're muggleborn, so you don't know what it's like when you've been taught your whole life that werewolves are evil beasts…blah, blah, blah."

"But—" Lily began.

"I know, Remus isn't, but still…I mean, after that…I just thought we should end it. I mean, he didn't trust me. He'd been lying to me. I don't think it's good to have a relationship based on lies," Julie said, stubbornly. She stood up, "Let's go to lunch," she said, sounding distant and less chirpy. Lily sighed before standing up and following her out of the library. She wasn't, however, ready to give up the subject.

"But the only reason he did lie to you was because he liked you too much and was afraid you'd react the way you did. It only proves he was right." Julie looked ruffled at this and shook her head.

"Whatever. I just wish we could go back to being friends. I know he's a really nice guy and stuff…it's just so damn awkward now!" she said in frustration.

"Well, I personally think you two should get back together," Lily said conversationally as they entered the Great Hall. Julie scowled, "Remus is one of the sweetest guys you'll ever find. I mean, you don't come across many like him. Sure, there's his…furry little problem but—"

"Furry little problem?" She nodded

"That's what James calls it," Lily explained smiling, "My point is, Remus is good for you. He's sweet, funny, caring, and smart…"

"Why don't you date him then?" Julie snapped. Lily smirked at her irritation. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

"Well, I don't think it'd settle with James too well. He tends to be the jealous type. Besides, he's still in love with you." Julie snorted.

"Love? Don't kid yourself Lily. We're seventeen. "

"It doesn't matter," Lily said quietly. Julie sighed.

"Listen, there might be a possibility that he still…perhaps…might…er…like me," Julie squirmed awkwardly in her seat, "But…I mean, we did just break up a bit ago, but there is no way either of us were in love. Be logical, Lily, love…it's just… unreasonable." Julie stabbed her fork hard into a piece of chicken. Deciding to leave it there, they spent the rest of lunch in silence, off in their own thoughts.

It had been quite funny to walk down the hallways with James—holding hands. After all, hadn't they left for Christmas sworn enemies? Okay, maybe they hadn't been enemies anymore, but for everyone else in the school, it'd come as a big shocker. In fact, within the next few days, even the teachers knew that Lily and James were dating. Of course, Lily received many jealous glares from passing girls occasionally. James would just laugh and kiss her when she told him this. They'd been going down the hallway—Lily was trying to explain what a muggle television was. He'd never heard of one before—on their way to Potions.

They'd been going through the doorway when someone bumped into Lily and brushed pass James. Lily recognized one of them by the back of his greasy black hair. He turned his head slightly, his black eyes narrowed.

"Oh, come on Severes I need to wash my robes can't have Mudblood filth tainting them, can we?," the one next to Snape sneered, The other that stood next to him was Averey, he had messy dark brown hair and a look on his face that he liked to torture little puppies for the fun of it. He spat on the ground next to James before stalking off. Snape just stood there awkwardly gave James a glare and James looked furious and plunged inside his robes for his wand. Lily, however, stopped him with a touch on his arm.

"James? Don't." James threw Snape a furious glance at his back before looking back at Lily.

"Did you hear him? Lily, you can't let him get away with that!" Lily sighed and pulled him over to the other side of the dungeon.

"Yes, I can. James, you can't curse or hex someone every time they call me a foul name. Besides, I can handle myself. Averey is just…" she glanced in his direction.

"A bloody down right git." Lily smiled slightly.

"Yes, I suppose that fits," she said before leaving him to take her usual spot next to Gwen, Julie and Alice. Today, they were concocting a particular difficult antidote, but whenever Lily looked back at James, she saw him glaring furiously in Snape's direction.

Even though Potions was her one of her favorite subjects, she was grateful when the bell finally rang and everyone filed out of the dungeon. James was still acting moody as they went to lunch. Rolling her eyes, Lily turned to Gwen, who was talking amiably about, oh look here….

_Quidditch_

Of course

Urg.

What else was new?

"Gwen, don't you have anything better to talk about?" Lily asked, interrupting her in mid-sentence. Gwen frowned.

"Like what?"

"Like—"

"What? N.E.W.T.S? By the way, Julie showed me that ridiculous study schedule you've already written up. You're joking, aren't you? We havn't even started yet!"

"Of course not! Don't you realize how important this is? This could define our careers—"

"That's not the point. It's months and months away. You, my friend, are whacked," Gwen grinned and turned back to Sirius, "And no Sirius, the Wasps blew it, again, may I add. I don't know why you support them. They suck."

"They do not!" Sirius cried in outrage. Lily rolled her eyes. Alice chuckled behind her.

"Do they ever stop?" Alice grinned.

"C'mon Lily, you should know better by now," Gwen frowned at them and kept ignoring the pair. Lily laughed along with Alice as Gwen became more irritated.

"So…where's Frank?" She asked. Alice only shrugged.

"I don't know. He asked me to meet up with him at lunch. Oh, but guess what?" Alice asked excitedly. She didn't wait for Lily to respond, "I just calculated, during Slughorn's boring lecture, that Frank and my six months is going to be on Valentine's day."

"Ew. Valentine's day?"

"I know, isn't it romantic?"

"Er—"

"I hope he does something special. Do you think he knows? Or maybe, what if he…"

And there she goes.

Lily zoned out after that. Alice is a great person and Lily loves her to death, but once she starts talking about romance count Lily out. All she had to do was nod every once in a while, and Alice would keep plowing on. Lily snuck a look at James who was talking with Peter. He was laughing now.

Good.

She didn't really need him to be all moody just because of Snape. Sure, he was a bloody down right git, but he needn't get so worked up about him.

Alice was still talking. Something about Honeydukes chocolate. Yum. Honeydukes. Now thats a conversation Lily could get into. She looked next to her as James took the seat beside her in the Great Hall while Alice sat on her other side, still jabbering away.

"Alice?" Lily said abruptly, Alice froze in mid-sentence, frowning at the interruption.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you supposed to be with Frank?" Alice jumped up.

"Oh shoot! Thanks Lily, I'd already forgotten!" And then she was gone. Lily chuckled and began filling her plate up. She could really do with some chocolate. Honeydukes chocolate to be exact. Hey, Julie knew how to sneak into Hogsmeade! Oh, dear. She was actually considering sneaking off the grounds?

"Oh no." Lily accidentally said out loud.

"What?" James was looking at her, stopping in mid conversation with Sirius. Sirius looked slightly miffed.

"I forgot, now that your dating Evans, she's more important than me," he said grumpily.

"Shut up, Black." Julie said sarcastically, before continuing her conversation with Gwen. Sirius only stuck out his tongue at Julie before looking to Lily.

"Yes, Lily…what?" he asked, in a mockingly high voice. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" James asked, frowning, "C'mon Lily, you can tell me."

"Us," Sirius corrected. Lily and James glared out at him.

"Bug off, Black," Lily snapped. Sirius sighed.

"Fine, I see how it is, no one wants me today…oy Pete!" he called. Lily ignored him and went back to her lunch. James was still looking at her expectantly.

"What?"

"Weren't you going to say something?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Well…only just…" Lily paused, feeling herself flush, "It's embarrassing." James laughed.

"Oh, come on Lils!"

"Fine. I was…contemplating ditching class. Only for a second! I mean, I'd never—"

"Want to?"

"James!"

"What?"

"We can't possibly—"

"What, we have Charms—"

"Do my ears deceive me?" Sirius broke in. Lily gave an audible groan, "Or is Lily Evans, Head Girl, Miss Perfect and our own goody two shoes, considering skipping school?"

"I—"

"Of course! We've finally gotten to her Padfoot!" The two boys exchanged high fives as Lily began banging her head on the table. What had she gotten herself into?

And all for just a bit of Honeydukes chocolate…damn Alice.

A/N: Okay consider this the worst chapter in the world all thats to (drum roll please)

WRITERS BLOCK!

Oh yes thanks you very much for that hon.

No but really I hate my life thinking I can't satisfy my readers so again I apologize for lack of creativity, and Schools going terribly thanks for asking. But please review is makes me feel better :)


	20. Happiness

Chapter 20 - Happiness

**A/N: This chapter is sort of the reason why its 'T'**

** a little bit of naughty stuff happens, don't blame me! Blame my perverted mind! Enjoy!**

"Ow! Black, that was my eye!" Lily shrieked in a whisper

"Oops, sorry Evans. Hey, Prongs, don't you have a damn light?"

"_Lumos_," James' wand had lit up the tunnel as Lily ran into him, knocking them all over. Sirius laughed, and Lily growled, brushing herself off.

"Why did we bring him again?" Lily asked, directing the question to James.

"Because."

"You know, that isn't a bloody excuse. All he does is be bloody—"

"Aw, Lily-bean you know you love me," Sirius said wrapping an arm around her, "You know, if I wasn't madly in love with your best friend—"

"Madly in love?"

"I tend to over-exaggerate—"

"Okay, you know when my best mate and my girlfriend stop flirting with each other we can start heading towards Hogsmade," said James, sounding peeved. Lily grinned, rolling her eyes at Sirius. James was such a jealous bugger. Lily and Sirius caught up with James and the three of them began walking through the damp, dark tunnel together.

"Um, so what do you think Gwen and Julie are going to do?" Lily asked out loud, "Or Remus and Peter? Or Alice…should we have invited them?"

"Oh yes, because that wouldn't have been obvious…all the Gryffindors missing," Sirius replied, "Trust me Lily, the only person who might be the slightest upset is Gwen, and she'll take out all that anger on me," he announced cheerfully.

"You say that like it's a good thing," Lily muttered. James laughed while he and Sirius exchanged glances, "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No," they replied in unison.

"So…Lily, what will you do if McGonagall catches us?"

"McGonagall? I thought you said you do this all the time!" Lily cried accusingly at Sirius. Sirius shrugged.

"Of course I do. I don't mind detention though—"

"Sirius! James! If I get in trouble—" She left the threat hanging, James only laughed.

"Take it easy Lily, you won't get caught. We're Marauders, remember?"

"Unfortunately."

"Hey!" both boys cried out. Lily laughed. It seemed to take ages before they found their way to the Honeydukes cellar.

"What if—" Lily began, her worries of getting caught emerged again.

"Lily?" Sirius interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up," said Sirius. James laughed, shaking his head, but then one look at Lily sobered him up.

"I mean, Padfoot! That's my girlfriend you're talking to!"

"A little late," Lily commented dryly. Both boys sshhhed her, silencing her with the universal gesture. Lily frowned before hearing voices and footsteps above her. James mouthed, 'follow me' as he and Sirius led the way. That's when James pulled out something slivery that reflected even the dim light of the wand. Lily gasped when she saw it. She would recognize it even in the darkness of this tunnel, although, she'd never laid eyes on one before. It was an invisibility cloak. It was a bit transparent looking with a silky look, it was absolutely beautiful.

"James, is that—?" she whispered.

"Yes it is," he replied smugly. He gave it an adorning look, "It has helped us achieve some of our greatest ventures!"

"Your greatest ventures?" Lily asked, skeptically.

"Indeed," Sirius added, solemnly. Then he broke out in a grin, "Now, we can't keep ourselves waiting! James, you go check." James nodded before putting the cloak over himself, and Lily gasped as he vanished.

_Vanished! _

Out of thin air and everything!

"So…it's a…a…" Lily began, still overcoming her surprise.

"An invisibility cloak?" came James' voice out of nowhere.

"Wow, those are supposed to be really rare…where'd you get it?"

"It's been in the Potter family for generations," James answered somewhere to her left, "Okay, Padfoot, I'm going to go check," James voice faded, as she heard his footsteps tip-toe away.

"This is so weird," Lily whispered. In the dim light of Sirius' wand, he grinned.

"Eh, you'll get used to it Lily-pad."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she muttered, but he didn't seem to have heard her because James was back, his hand sticking out of thin air, waving them on. Then his whole body appeared and once again, he was holding the silvery cloak. He stuffed it in his bag then grinned.

"Coast is clear," he whispered. Lily followed Sirius and James out of the cellar. There were people above them upstairs, voices calling, and Lily was grateful when they appeared in the actual store of Honeydukes. Alas! It is what she had come for…chocolate!

It wasn't very crowded, but there were a few customers. One tall, fierce looking witch glared at them as they passed boy. She was quickly distracted by the little boy holding her hand, tugging on her arm.

Lily quickly purchased her favorite bars of Honeydukes' best chocolate then got a few for her friends. They couldn't be too mad at her if she bought them chocolate. Sirius and James also stocked up, spending a good deal of gold on candy.

"Now what?" Lily asked, wondering how they were going to get back through the cellar. The owners were standing near the trapdoor. Sirius and James exchanged looks, "How are we supposed to get back?"

"Get back?" Sirius questioned, grinning at her. Lily frowned. That did not sound good.

"Oh, c'mon Lils," James said, taking her by the elbow. The two boys steered her out of the shop. It took her only a few moments to realize they weren't planning on returning anytime soon.

"Wait! What if we get caught? The teachers will certainly notice if we don't show up all day—"

"Hey, it's just Charms," Sirius said, grinning, "Lily, you could miss Charms every day of your life and pass with flying colors." Before Lily could open her mouth to argue back, James interrupted them.

"Who wants to go to the Three Broomsticks?"

"James—"

"Yeah! Prongs!"

"Wait—"

"I'll race you," Sirius said, grinning. Then, without another word, both boys took off running. James did, however, turn and call over his shoulder.

"C'mon Lily, you can't let Sirius beat you!" Lily rolled her eyes. Would they ever grow up? She grudgingly ran after them, realizing how ridiculous she looked, her hollering down the street after two immature boys.

It didn't matter though, seeing as the pub was a great relief from the bitter cold. Lily happily ordered a butterbeer while James and Sirius smugly ordered firewhiskey.

"You shouldn't be drinking that," Lily said in disapproval.

"Ah, but we can," James pointed out, "We're legal."

"I know, don't remind me."

"Hey!" Sirius cried, "We are very—"

"Sirius, don't even bother finishing that sentence. You never have acted your age in any way, shape, or form."

"I wasn't going to say that," he pouted.

"So? Am I right? This is much better then Charms?" James asked after a while. Lily smiled, rolling her eyes. It was fun actually. The idea of being rebellious was just so…fun.

"I guess so. Hanging out with you two isn't all that bad…"

"You know, you'd think that since we were dating, she'd be somewhat nicer to me…" James began, frowning at Lily playfully.

"Some things never change," Lily responded cheekily.

"I still can't believe you all didn't invite me," Gwen muttered angrily. Lily grinned at her friend.

"You are still harping on that, are you?" Lily asked, laughing. They were all gathered in the common room, Lily was sitting next to James, her head on his shoulder. Despite Gwen's sour mood, Lily felt relaxed and comfortable.

"Yes! Julie, you agree with me, right?" Gwen asked, poking Julie in the stomach. Julie glared at her, turning away from the chess game she'd been immersed in with Peter. It was their fourth game that evening.

"Did you just poke me?"

"She agrees with me, see?" Gwen said, ignoring Julie.

"I don't think that was an affirmative response," Sirius teased, smirking at her.

"You shut up! Why didn't you invite me? James took Lily! You could have—"

"See Evans? Told you it'd be my fault."

"You're ruddy right it's your fault!" Gwen snapped, "Whatever, I'm going to bed." They all chuckled as Gwen swept out dramatically, slamming the girl's dormitory behind her. Sirius rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes, I don't know why I put up with her."

"We are simply irresistible," Julie said offhandedly, not taking her eyes off the game.

"No, my dear, that would be us—" Sirius began, puffing his chest out.

"Yes, because we've had such a hard time resisting you prats," Lily said sarcastically.

"Ah, but it was difficult, wasn't it?" Sirius argued, wiggling his eyebrows, "You and Prongsie here have become quite the couple. The golden couple actually…in fact, it's quite sickening…"

"It is not sickening," Lily snapped, snuggling closer to James, "You, Black, are jealous." Sirius was saved a response by a loud whoop from Julie.

"Check mate again, Petey!" Julie shouted triumphantly. Peter groaned.

"Every time…"

"Ah, you should be used to it now, Wormtail," Sirius said, slapping his friend on the back as he stood up, "I'm off to bed, ladies. I'll see you in the morning." Then with a wink, he strolled off while Peter tagged along. Remus laughed quietly.

"I think that sounds like an idea. I'm Sleepy myself."

"Yeah, me too," Julie responded, "Besides, Alice is out with Frank. Lily and James are being sickening—"

"We are not!" Lily cried, sitting up straight, blushing slightly.

"—and I am not staying alone with them. 'Night guys," Julie said, waving to what remained of the group, "I'll go listen to Gwen complain about Sirius some more. I doubt she's asleep. She's, like, nocturnal, I swear."

"So…" Lily said after a moment as everyone left around them.

"So," James said back, smirking at her.

"Bed?"

"With you?" He responded cheekily. Lily rolled her eyes and swatted at him.

"No you idiot, to the Head dorms," Lily snapped at him. James only grinned.

"Oh, right. I suppose…ladies first," he gestured gallantly towards the portrait hole. Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"How could I forget, James Potter, ever the gentleman."

"As you wish, my lady," he responded, bowing. Lily laughed and ran ahead of him, out of the portrait hole, "Lily—" he began loudly. Lily quieted him with a shushing noise, and he gave her an indignant look, "Fine." Lily giggled.

"Don't be so melodramatic, James. I just don't want to get in trouble—"

"We are Heads, we won't get in trouble," James replied in exasperation.

"—after the stunt we pulled earlier. Oh, and as for being Heads, we shouldn't abuse our privileges to be roaming around the school when we aren't patrolling."

"I do recall that 'stunt' being your idea," James countered, frowning.

"Yes, but I wasn't planning on going through with it. I mean, that's like when people say they were 'this close from staying home sick' but they didn't. I won't do it. I just—"

"But you did!" James sang. Lily gave him a stern look as they approached their dormitory.

"Lower your voice! All I need is for Filch to find us—" James, however, had distracted her with his lips. Suddenly he was kissing her, and she was kissing him fiercely back. He pinned her gently against the portrait wall his body dangerously close to hers. James was prodding her lips with his tongue and she gave him access while she let out a small moan. Lily wasn't sure how long it had been—time didn't seem to matter when she was with James. All that did matter was the texture of his soft lips, his large calloused hands roaming about her hair and back, and that feeling of his body pressed against hers and how she could feel every bit of his toned muscles.

She loved it.

"Ah, hem." There was a moment's pause, "Mr. Potter and Miss Evans!" came a sharp voice that was too familiar for their liking…

Lily and James broke apart, panting slightly to the sound of their names. James was looking rather pleased with himself, but Lily was horrified. She was probably the colour of her hair now maybe even redder do to her embarrassment. They had just been caught snogging, at midnight, in the middle of an empty corridor, by Professor McGonagall.

Fabulous.

"Er—" Lily began, trying to think of an explanation. Each one was more pathetic then the next…

"Hello, Professor, we were just—" James began, still grinning.

"Mr. Potter, I do not want to know what you were just 'doing', I only here to ask why you two aren't in your dormitories," she said, sternly, her lips pressed thin.

"We were going, we were on our way but—" Lily began. Professor McGonagall cut her off sharply.

"Miss Evans, I expected better of you," she began sternly, "You are Head Girl and no better than to use your Head privileges as so. And Mr. Potter you—"

"Sorry, Professor, it was entirely my fault," James explained quickly, "It wasn't Lily, I swear—" McGonagall let out a sigh.

"Of course it is, Potter. Now I think it would be best if you two attempted to keep this activity to a minimum and return to your dormitory" she said calmly but with a bit of forcefullness. James took Lily by the hand and ran off. Lily couldn't help it, she began laughing. McGonagall yelled something after them, and James only laughed. By the time they reached their portrait hole, they were both out of breath.

"How…is…it," Lily said, between breaths, "That you…always…get me…into trouble?" James laughed, and then there was another clearing of throats. It was their portrait, the man with the very large mole.

"Aren't you two the Head Boy and Girl?" the portrait asked slyly, "If so…why in the name of Merlin, are you two getting in trouble?"

"Oh, put a sock in it," James muttered. Lily giggled before saying the password.

"Fairy lights." The two of them scrambled in, James was frowning.

"Ruddy portrait…anyway…should we start back where we left off?" James asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Lily giggled as James wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into another yet breathtaking kiss. A battle for dominance is what it was of course, a battle that Lily knew she was going to lose, so she let her body relax and mold into James' chiseled chest. He was smirking at her defeat but she could really care less, for this moment of passion was stronger then she has ever felt. Lily began to tug at the hem of his shirt needly and before she knew it the shirt was removed. She took a moment. I mean it isn't everyday you get to see James Potter shirtless, is it? When she was done he pushed her slightly against the wall as he snogged her senseless. Lily let out a soft moan and something clicked in James. He quickly pulled apart and moved a few meters away from her. They were both breathing heavily and pink in the face, Lily's first few buttons were undone on her blouse and James' hair looked like a crow has recently been nesting in it. Lily was confused on why he had broken apart and a tad bit angry too. She was in the moment! Then he cleared his throat and averted his eyes from hers.

"Erm… ah- I think I'm g'nna hit the hay," he stuttered turning redder with every waking moment.

"Well… Alright" Lily said confused and actually a little bit hurt. Did she do something wrong? James must of seen the hurt once her looked at her.

"Oh no you didn't do anything wrong its just if.. You… Erm.. We continued- I-I don't think I'd be able to huh…. Stop."

oh

OH!

Uhhhh

Lily was about the same shade of a tomato to be correctly put in and she scratched her head uncomfortably.

"Oh alright I see," Lily stated awkwardly, James just smiled a little."Well g-goodnight James," she nodded curtly and left him there to gather up his shirt and his thoughts but Lily couldn't help but let the small smile show that was threatening to burst from her lips. Lily Evans was finally happy. Hm strange…

Happiness...

A/N: Well…

Interesting chapter I might think. This is probably the biggest romance chapter I have ever made and I thought it turned out pretty good fro all the flirty ones out there. Anywho I'm supposed to be doing my Modern World Homework but looks like this is more fun.

Bye the way I hit the 50 review mark. Yay! Maybe we can hit 100 before I finish this thing? I love you all! Review of course!


	21. Dates, Prewetts, and Love at First Sight

Chapter 21- Official dates, the Prewetts, and love at first sight

As the weeks went by, the students of Hogwarts fell back into their usual routine. For the fifth and seventh year students, it meant a lot of homework. Although O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were months away, many of the teachers had been thinking along the lines of Lily; they had to prepare. Lily fell back into her strict study schedule she'd used in fifth year. In fact, she hadn't had proper fun in the past few weeks, yet just as January had slipped away and now February was ready to pass her by as well. She couldn't help but stress out. She had too much studying to do!

Lily was studying in the Heads Common room, stressing out over Transfiguration. For some reason, it just never worked for her! She flipped through her notes, frowning as she read. She had the theory right…what was she doing wrong? The portrait hole opened, momentarily distracting her. James trudged in, wet and tired. He'd just come back from Quidditch practice.

The match was in five days.

Shed probably have to go.

….

Gah

Lily pushed that thought out of her mind and looked back at her muddy boyfriend, oh he was so handsome when he came back from practice his hair was windblown even more messy than before but fortunately he wasn't shirtless this time…. Too distracting…. And did she mention that he didn't smell when he came back? It was more like you were smelling a fresh meadow mixed with James smell.

Lily liked it

Heh

"Hey James," Lily said, smiling at him. He looked surprised to see her there.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be here. I thought you'd be with Alice and Julie."

"Nah…I ditched Julie and Remus…they were playing chess. Alice was with Frank doing god knows what. Besides, I had some Transfiguration to catch up on," she gestured helplessly at the work in front of her, "You know how dead awful I am at that subject."

"Awful?" James said, raising his eyebrows, "You aren't awful at anything, Lils. Just because it's not your best subject doesn't make you awful." Lily frowned, but instead of arguing, she changed the subject.

"So, how was practice?"

"Alright…Padfoot kept 'accidently' hitting the Bludgers at Travis Lentz…you know the sixth year, our other Chaser? I think it was because he was flirting with Gwen before practice." James sighed, sinking into the couch, "I mean, yes, I understand why he did it…but we do need Lentz for the match against Ravenclaw next week."

"Oh right, I forgot that was coming up," Lily said casually. Hopfully he wont ask if…

"You're coming, right?"

Oh dang.

"I guess I could fit it in to my schedule," said Lily slyly, giggling a bit.

"Good, because you've been studying too much, anyway," he said, giving the books a nasty glance. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I have not! You haven't been studying enough. Besides, even McGonagall said—"

"Minnie can be a spoil sport, Lils, remember, plus…guess what else is coming up?"

"What?" asked Lily.

"You're not even going to guess?" he asked, looking disappointed.

"Er—there isn't some new prank you and Sirius are planning?"

"Nope."

"Well…your birthday isn't until March…" Lily frowned then shrugged, "No idea." James grinned widely.

"Well there is Hogsmeade…. And you know you being my girlfriend… You'll go with me right?" Lily pretended to ponder for a moment, making James panic a little.

"Alright. Since you insist," she added, smiling at him. He laughed.

"Oh, because that's worked before," he noted sarcastically. Lily shook her head and leaned forward towards him so that their noses were almost touching. Before he could lean in and kiss her he pressed his chest against hers, she felt coldness on her shit and pulled away quiet suddenly.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but Merlin, Potter, you are soaking!" James laughed.

"Fine I'll go shower! Don't miss me," he stood up smirking and walked towards the bathroom. Then at the doorway, he turned around and looked at Lily. Lily was watching him, her green eyes dancing happily. He grinned and winked before closing the door with a click. He heard Lily laugh on the other side, and he grinned to himself. He loved that for once, he was making her laugh. It was no longer the emotion he was capable of receiving from her was anger. He could make her laugh and smile, and for him, that was worth anything in the world.

"Good morning." James called as he walked up to Lily

"Good morning to you too," Lily said, smiling at her boyfriend. His hair was extremely ruffled, and she put down her book, "Do you even try to tame your hair?" James grinned.

"You know that isn't possible. Plus, it's sexy like this." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes, how could I have forgotten?" she said with sarcasm. James only smiled and held out his arm, "Could I walk you to breakfast?"

"You know, you'd think you'd get tired of asking that to me every morning—"

"—but I don't. Remember, I've waited seven years to be able to do that. I'm not only going to do it once," James reminded.

"No, it's more like three years," Lily corrected him, "It wasn't until forth year you started asking me out. Or have you already forgotten?" James frowned and shook his head.

"No…not at all, but…er…you know that I liked you before then," he said looking uncomfortable. Lily frowned at this as they walked down, holding hands.

"Really? Since when?"

"Er—since the time I put a slug in your cauldron and made it explode. I think it was the way you yelled at me. I knew we were meant to be after that," said James. Lily was ready to laugh but saw the seriousness in his face and held it back.

"James, you were _eleven_ if I recall correctly." James smirked

"Yeah, and?"

"And? And you wouldn't have been deciding we were, ahem, 'meant to be'." James frowned and looked at her.

"Why not?"

"Because…because that's ridiculous! You barely even knew me." He was silent for a few moments.

"I take it you don't believe the love at first sight, then."

They'd stopped walking and were standing in the middle of the corridor. Lily shifted uncomfortable. Why was he talking like this? "I guess not," Lily agreed.

"Well, that's too bad," he said simply and began walking again. Lily jogged to keep up with him as he took quick paces.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded as they reached the Great Hall.

"I just think it's a pity, that's all."

"Why?" Lily asked as they sat down near their friends. She didn't even pay attention to Gwen's unusually chirpy 'good morning'. James, however, wasn't listening. He was distracted by Sirius who was talking to him in fast, low whispers.

"James!" Lily said, tapping him on the shoulder, thoroughly annoyed.

"Yeah?" James asked turning around. Sirius looked put out.

"Fine Prongs, I see where your loyalties lie," Sirius announced loudly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"James, about before, you never answered my question," Lily told him accusingly. James smiled.

"Lily, do you really want to be having this conversation in front of Sirius?"

"Hey!" came Sirius' cry of outrage that they both ignored.

"True," Lily agreed. She frowned again, "But I won't forget about it." James laughed.

"I wouldn't expect you to." he said winking then he turned back to Sirius who grinned.

"As I was saying, our operation will have to be planned stealthily because people with the name that starts in a 'Lil' and ends in a 'eee' like to eavesdrop." Lily glared at him.

"Black, I am not eavesdropping! You are just talking loud…as usual!"

"I am not," he said indignantly. James sighed and began serving himself breakfast. Lily scooted away from the two and turned to Gwen. Gwen was talking to Alice about Potions.

"…I mean, I don't even know what Slughorn is thinking! I swear, I'm going to fail that class. I really don't think I'm going to scrape a N.E.W.T. in that subject…"

"You know, I could always help you, Gwen," Lily butt in helpfully. Gwen turned and smirked.

"Oh, you've decided to talk to us now." Alice rolled her eyes at Gwen's comment, but Gwen kept smirking at Lily.

"Yeah, your boyfriend was being an arsehole," Lily said, scowling in Sirius' direction.

Gwen frowned, "He is not my boyfriend."

"Fine, your _friend_ is an arsehole. Better?"

"Much." Gwen grinned

"Wow, you two are really chipper in the morning," Alice said, looking between the two of her friends.

"Oh shut it, Alice," Gwen said, swatting her with the newspaper.

"Hey, give me that! I want to read it," Alice whined.

"No, besides, this is _Julie's_ newspaper—not yours. You don't get the Prophet delivered…speaking of Julie, where is she?" Gwen asked, letting her guard down long enough for Alice to snatch the newspaper, "OY!" Gwen shouted, trying to reach for it but instead, fell off the chair.

She came up, her face pinkening, a scowl glued on her face.

"That was so not funny," she snapped as Lily and Alice howled with laughter. A few minutes later, after they calmed down, and Lily had finally gotten some breakfast, she heard Alice gasp.

"What?" Gwen said, still looking sour.

"Oh, how _awful_…do you guys remember the Prewett twins?"

"Er—I think so," Lily said frowning, "Three years ahead of us?"

"Yeah," Gwen answered, "Fabian was Quidditch Captain before James. Gideon was on the team too," Gwen recalled, "I played Quidditch with them for three years. Why?"

"Well, they…they were killed," Alice said softly, still staring at the paper. At Alice's words, Gwen tore the paper out of Alice's hands, scoffing. She was muttering something about a mistake then, after staring at the paper for a long time, she got up and left quite abruptly.

"Oh dear," came Alice's soft reply, "You think we should go after her?"

Lily shook her head, "No, she probably wants time to think for a bit. You know, before class. I mean…it must be hard. She knew them pretty well."

"Yeah…they were a pair all right," Alice said, looking glum. She poked at her oatmeal and sighed, "I think I've lost my appetite."

Lily nodded in agreement before asking a question, "May I see that article?" Alice picked it up where Gwen had left it and handed it to Lily.

"I just can't believe it. What, they'd only just begun their careers as Aurors too…" Alice was saying, but Lily was no longer listening. She was looking at the picture where two boys were grinning and waving in a photograph—the identical brothers: Fabian and Gideon. Underneath it was a familiar picture that made Lily's breath catch…the Dark Mark. She pushed the paper away, feeling sickened.

Voldemort.

Voldemort had done this.

That sick minded bastard.

Alice was still talking. Talking fast, like she always did when she was nervous or upset.

"It's just crazy, I never thought this would happen. Frank wants to be an Auror. I don't think I'll let him. He can't be! He'll get himself killed!" Alice stood up, "I need to go talk to Frank."

"Okay," Lily said, poking at her toast, absentmindedly. She was the only one left besides Sirius who was gulping down a large amount of pumpkin juice. He seemed to suddenly realize that Lily was only the person left to talk to.

"Evans…what's up?" Sirius asked, flashing a grin at her. Lily only looked at him. She remembered just moments ago how angry she'd been with him for acting like a prat. Silly worry.

"Did you read it?" Lily asked, tossing the Prophet at him.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, not looking at it, "Hey…where did everyone go?"

"I dunno," Lily said with a sigh, "Remember the Prewetts?"

"Yeah," Sirius said slowly, obviously confused.

"They're dead."

"What?" he cried, jumping up.

"Sirius!" Lily hissed, "Sit down!" She really didn't need Sirius Black making a scene in front of the Great Hall. By the looks of some expressions, others had just read the same information. Other people were still talking and being their usual selves, but an air had taken over the Great Hall that depressed Lily.

"Are you joking…they're like…only twenty!" Sirius said, looking dumbstruck.

"They were killed by Voldemort," Lily said with a hard look. Sirius looked speechless. Then, he got up, almost as abruptly as Gwen and walked out. Sighing, Lily picked up her own bag and decided to head to Charms early.

The good thing about Charms was Flitwick loved Lily. Therefore, Lily could easily talk during class, and he never minded. They were practicing a Protean Charm, so Lily got in a group with Gwen, Julie and Alice so they could talk.

"Everyone knows by now," Alice said numbly. That was true. Ever since breakfast, everyone seemed depressed. Many of the students had known the Prewetts and had been friendly with them, so it was a shocking blow.

"Yeah…how you holding up, Gwen?" Lily asked, looking to her friend. Gwen sighed.

"I'm fine, you shouldn't be worried about me. I saw Sirius after he found out…he was freaking out."

"I think it's the fact that it's someone we all knew," Julie said sadly.

"And that they were so young. Only three years older than us," Alice added, she pointed her wand only to set out big blue bubbles.

No one was getting much accomplished. Lily, however, performed her charm with ease, but everyone else seemed to find it either too difficult or they weren't putting in the full effort. Flitwick seemed to be understanding and sympathetic because he said they'd just do some more practicing for homework and they'd work on it during the next lesson.

"Urgh…Arithmancy…I think I might just fall asleep."

"You're lucky, I have Care of Magical Creatures…Kettleburn can be such a nag," Gwen grumbled.

"Yes, well, Julie and I have free periods," Alice said then shutting up at the glare Gwen gave her. They didn't talk but walked silently until they divided for their next class. It wasn't until later that evening Lily actually talked to anyone. Julie had been short with everyone after Gwen had snapped at her. Alice was (as usual) with Frank. Therefore, Lily went to the library. After all, as she constantly reminded everybody—N.E.W.T.s weren't that far away…

"Hey, love," she felt James come up behind her, kissing her neck softly. She was sitting in the library and twisted her neck to look up at him. She smiled.

"Hey, you found me."

"Well, you are predictable," he joked.

"Oh, haha," Lily said, smiling anyway.

"Are you done studying for tonight?" he asked hopefully.

"No…do you want to study with me?" Lily asked.

"Hm, I don't know…would we really get much studying done?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He attempted to wrap his arms around her waist but she slapped them playfully.

"James!" Lily scolded, "We're in the library." James looked around, surveying his surroundings.

"So? It's only a few brainy Ravenclaws and Madam Otum…"

"Yes, but she hates you…or have you forgotten?" Lily asked, smirking. James frowned.

"Oh yeah, she's mad, a bloody lunatic, an absolute—"

"Mr. Potter," came a low, clear voice. Lily put her hand to her mouth to hide her snort of laughter. James turned around, his eyes widening. The librarian was piercing him with her fiercest stare.

"Er—hello?" she eyed him for a while before turning to Lily.

"The library is closing."

"Oh…already?" Lily asked, surprised.

"It's Friday," she pointed out snappishly. She was glaring at James again who began fidgeting nervously.

"Oh, alright," Lily said, "I'll just get my stuff together," she added as she watched her suspiciously. Lily began moving stuff into her bag, shuffling papers. Madam Otum retreated farther back while keeping a hawkish eye on James.

When they finally left, Lily burst out laughing, "You're aware that she hates you?" Lily asked, still giggling to herself, "She looked like she could have burned holes through you…" she laughed again.

"It wasn't _that_ funny," James argued. They bickered in a playful way as they returned to their Head room.

"Wait, so are you ever going to tell me?" Lily asked as she collapsed onto the couch. James took a seat next to her.

"About what?"

"Why you pity me?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that. I told you I wouldn't forget." James rolled his eyes.

"You're only doing this to be stubborn."

"No I'm not—" Lily began.

"Do you want to know or not?" James interrupted. Lily closed her mouth and nodded, remaining silent, "Good," he said nodding at her, "I just think it's a pity because if you did believe in love at first sight, then we would've been together long ago." Lily rolled her eyes.

"I should've known it would be a cheesy line like that," Lily teased.

"Hey, I'm being serious!"

"I thought that was your best mate," Lily joked. James rolled his eyes.

"Do you know how many times I've heard that joke?"

"It never gets old," Lily said with a smile.

"Yes it does, especially when Sirius Black used it one hundred and eighty-four times in our second year. And that was only September and October…I think Remus lost count after that." Lily laughed, and then neither of them said anything for a moment.

"You know, I really do believe in love at first sight," said James into the silence that had been developing. Lily sighed and looked up at him.

"Merlin, I didn't know you were such a mush," she said, feeling somewhat irritated.

"I'm not," he said, leaning closer so that his breath tickled her ear, "I'm just in love with you." He kissed her softly pulled away and looker her in the eyes, "I mean that, Lily. I love you." Lily stared into his hazel pools, trying to think of the right words. She should just say I love you back, but she didn't know if she was, so she wasn't saying anything. She was only staring at him, and he was staring back. Then he gave her an understanding smile.

"You know, you don't have to say anything, Lily," James said softly, "I just wanted you to know. I've wanted to just say it for ages." Lily nodded, and gave him a sad smile.

"I don't really know where my feelings lie James. I like you, I really do but-" he cut her off with a breathtaking kiss. She feels like she'll never get sick of his lips against hers and how his strong hands yet delicately caressed her face. He smiled into the kiss and she smiled back, they were both smiling like cats now silly goofy grins plastered on their faces but they're kiss still continued. Lily positioned herself over him as he deepened the kiss. She gasped away for air, him only continuing to plants kisses on her neck gently nibbling a sensitive spot that made her back arch just then James slipped from under her and was now standing next to the couch's arm.

Lily had not moved a muscle.

"G'night love," and with that he gently kissed her for head and scampered off into his bedroom leaving a surprised and a bit miffed Lily arching her body over an empty couch.

GAH

Oh well.

_A/N: So, I know it was a bit depressing in the beginning, but not too bad. I know that the Prewetts didn't die until after Lily and James joined the OP, but I'm changing that for this story, okay? So...please r/r! _

_Anyway so I have a question do you guys want more action drama humor romance? You tell me. Cuz I am totally drawing a blank on what to do next. Keep up the reviews c'mon my dear ladies and gents lets make 100! ;)_


	22. Clumsy Caresses & Quidditch

Chapter 22- Clumsy Caresses & Quidditch

The next morning Lily was sitting in Transfiguration. Jeez she was really lost so she thought she should take a little break from notes, her hand was beginning to cramp up. She sighed and gave a side look to the boy sitting next to her. He was diligently taking notes. She would have never guessed a year ago that this would be James Potter. She would've scoffed at the mere thought of James Potter taking notes.

Now she was dating him.

Snogging him senseless every night.

And well maybe more…..

Things really had changed, Lily found herself thinking. James looked up at her for a moment and winked. Lily shook her head but blushed furiously and went back to her notes. N.E.W.T. Transfiguration…she really ought to be paying attention. N.E.W.T. classes had become very stressful for Lily.

The only thing to look forward to was tomorrow—the Quidditch match. Lily was never a big fan—she only went to watch Gwen in the past. This game was a bit different. She had always grumbled about going to matches. She'd always thought it was just another opportunity for Potter to show off. Before then, she never realized how nervous he got around Quidditch matches. The entire week he'd been scheduling emergency practices, and Lily had to hear Gwen muttering under her breath about them.

When the bell rang, all the seventh years shuffled out, chattering excitedly, happy that it was Friday. Transfiguration was their last class of the day, so (of course) Gwen, James and Sirius were off to a last minute Quidditch practice.

"I think we've been worked to the max," Gwen whined.

"For once, I agree with her," Sirius said, nodding. James ignored them.

"I was thinking we'd only do a few drills, nothing too stressful then go over a few plays that might prove useful against Ravenclaw—"

"Prongs, seriously—"

"—because they creamed Slytherin as well. They've done really well this year, and their captain is a complete—"

"Harris? That twerp? Prongs—"

"Jordan Harris…oh right, Lily you went on a date with him, right?" Julie asked, looking over toward a pinkening Lily. Lily hadn't been listening much, and Gwen was hitting her forehead and giving Julie an exasperated look.

For a moment, James looked passive while he looked down at his lap while his ears turned red, he waited for Lily to respond.

"Erm, yeah, I did. Wow, that feels like ages ago," Lily grinned as she noticed James' stony manner, "James Potter, are you getting jealous?"

"No," he said snapped.

"Merlin, you think if I didn't like you, I'd be dating you? You know I'd date you over Harris any day," Lily said, going on her toes and kissing him on the cheek, "Now, don't start sulking either," she scolded. James grinned and shook his head as he put his arm around her. As they made their way to the common room, James spoke up.

"I was NOT sulking!"

"James, eat something." James stared at Lily.

"I did."

"A bite of toast does not count, eat up!" Lily said, pushing eggs in front of him. James made a face. It was the morning of the Quidditch match, and the group was at breakfast.

"Fine, _Mum_."

Lily stuck her tongue out in response.

"You guys are really mature," Alice said, amusement in her voice.

"Oh, shut it, Alice," Lily said, rolling her eyes and turning to her own breakfast, "Eat!" she barked at James. She did not understand what was with it and Quidditch players. Honestly, the game wasn't _that_ nerve-wracking. She'd forced Gwen to eat multiple times in the past. Thank Merlin it wasn't the case this morning. She was inhaling her food today.

Kind of gross actually…

"Er—got to go! James, Sirius and I will meet you down there." They watched the pair walk off, laughing.

"Why won't they just date?" Alice asked wistfully. No one answered her. Instead, James poked at his food for a few more minutes before standing up.

"Well, I think I'm going out to the field, you know check conditions," he grinned. Lily smiled at him. He suddenly looked much more confident and easy going, "See you."

"Good luck!" Lily called after him. She sat around with Remus, Julie and Peter until all the Gryffindors headed to the game. Lily had her Gryffindor scarf, and Alice had created a large flashing banner that flashed each of the players' names.

"I'm not sitting by Alice," Lily mumbled, "She nearly broke my eardrums last game."

"No need to worry," Julie said, smirking, "Here comes Frank. OY! FRANK!" Frank spotted us and smiled. He waved to us then went to Alice immediately. When they met her kissed her quick on the lips and walked away hand and hand.

"Hm, they're adorable," Lily said, smiling at the couple.

"Yeah, perfect relationship, eh?" Julie said shaking her head. Then she rolled her eyes, "Although, I don't know what you're talking about. You and James are…what do they call it Remus?"

"Madly in love?" Remus suggested. Lily glared at them. How did she get stuck between them again?

"We're not _madly in love_."

"Right and I'm marrying the Giant Squid," Julie said sarcastically.

"Really? Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

"Oh, har har Lily, just because you get touchy when we talk about your love life—" Julie was cut off by a loud announcing voice. Bradley Parkinson was a Hufflepuff fourth year that was currently announcing the game. Lily wasn't listening though. She had her eye out on the field for James. Then she saw him, as Bradley yelled out 'POTTER'. He came out on the field, waving at his loyal fans that were shrieking and cheering. Lily found herself joining in for the very first time…

And thus the match began. LIly wasn't really aware of what was happening more like watching James but she caught up on most things from Alice shouting things over the stands.

"WHOO HOO! OY! BLACK, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Alice asked as Sirius missed Travis Boot, the Ravenclaw Chaser. Julie and Lily exchanged glances.

"Alice! Shut up!" Julie yelled. Alice looked away at them, momentarily distracted.

"WHAT?"

"SHUT UP!" Screeched Lily. As she yelled it, Gryffindor scored and all was lost on Alice. She turned away and faced the game again. Frank was watching her more than the game, an amused expression on his face. Lily rolled her eyes, and pulled her jacket over her waist more.

"Potter better catch the bloody snitch soon. It's freezing."

"You know, James would be highly disappointed that you weren't into the game," Julie joked. Lily scowled.

"What? You want me acting like loony Alice over there?" She basically whispered

"I am not a loony!" Alice yelled. Lily looked over her shoulder giving her a bewildered look.

"How can you _hear_ me?"

"Alice has really good hearing," Julie said, nodding, "I think it's to make up for her being a complete loony." Alice shot them another look, and Julie laughed.

"JUST KIDDING, ALICE!"

"You don't need to yell!" she yelled back, "I can hear you!"

"That's so weird," Lily said, shaking her head.

"I know, that girl has bat ears—" There was an eruption in the stands and both Julie and Lily's heads snapped to the front. Sebastian King (the Ravenclaw Seeker) and James were hurtling toward the ground. Lily felt herself on her tiptoes, pushing on Remus' and Julie's shoulder.

"POTTER!" King yelled. Then she noticed it—the sparkle of gold glittering near the ground. She watched, no longer aware of her surroundings, but only having eyes for James and the snitch. She watched him swat Sebastian's arm out of the way and grabbed the snitch with his fist. He came to a halting stop, feet from the ground.

Then held his hand in the air.

Cheers erupted.

JUlie and Remus were hugging jumping up and down, then realized they're position and stopped abruptly blushing to the roots.

And Alice was screaming so loud Lily thought her eardrums would burst. Finally Frank bent over and kissed her and she shut up.

Oh thank you frank.

Lily felt herself letting out a breath of relief—a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Nervous, Lils?" Julie asked slyly. Then Julie disappeared in the crowd. Remus chuckled next to her.

"What? Aren't I allowed to be a bit nervous when my boyfriend's diving towards the ground looking as if he's about to meet his doom?"

"His doom?" Peter asked. Lily spun her head around. Where had he gone off to? "Don't worry, James practically lives on a broom, he wouldn't fall off."

"Yes, well…still."

"Aw, Wormtail, just leave Lily alone, She's finally having a Quidditch moment " Remus said, a smile tugging at his lips. Lily just rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever, I'm just going to find James," Lily mumble, ignoring their satisfied expressions. She found James surrounded by his team, but before she could make it to him, a pair of arms had thrown themselves around her, squealing. Lily found her face in blonde curls, and she knew who it was.

"We won!" Gwen cried, releasing her.

"I know!" Lily said back, hugging her friend in return, "Good game!"

"Thanks! Hey, party in the common room! I think James was going to bring Sweaden to the Hospital Wing. He broke his nose, _again_," Gwen said, rolling her eyes, "I told him he should just leave him be. He's broken his nose three times this year. Three times! Last year I think it was only once but the year before that it was five…"

"Good game, Sirius," Lily said, as Sirius came up behind Gwen. Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, I know. Lover boy is waiting for you," he added, jerking his head. Gwen rolled her eyes and swatted him.

"Sirius, don't be immature."

"What?" he asked innocently. The two of them began bickering, and Lily swept away. James was being congratulated by others when Lily timidly came up behind him and whispered in his ear.

"That was a nice catch, Potter."

He immediately spun around, his face lighting up as he saw her. He grinned cockily, and Lily wanted to laugh. She used to hate that grin so much, but now she only found it adorable.

"Thanks, Lily-bean," She ignored the nickname as he wrapped his hand around her waist, and Lily waited. She knew he was about to kiss her when—

"Mr. Potter!" James reluctantly turned his head around. Professor McGonagall was giving James and Lily stern looks, "I realize that the two of you are…erhm…yes, but please, refrain from any public display of affection—"

"PDA!" Sirius yelled loudly.

Lily snorted.

Like he should talk.

Professor McGonagall sent him an irritated look that Lily was thankful for.

"As I said, because you are currently in front of all ages of students. Oh, and Mr. Potter, excellent job."

"Thanks Minnie," James said, grinning. She sighed, but Lily could've sworn there was a smile on her lips. She walked off, and Lily followed James off the pitch.

There had been an after party, but the captain never arrived. Sure, people noticed but no one worried. Sirius Black had still been there to see that the party got carried off. (He was also there to spike the punch—but Lily never found out about that).

Instead, Lily had gotten a bit…distracted. They had been debating whether or not they should go to the party when James had a suggestion. A place called the Room of Requirement—Lily had never heard of it, but then again, the Marauders seemed to know everything about the school. She was sure it was that bloody map of theirs.

It was hours later, and Lily's head was on James' lap. He was stroking her hair, neither of them was talking. Lily was thinking about…who else?

James.

How great he kissed

How he was so different from anyone else she ever knew

He hadn't been like any of her other boyfriends.

None of them had shared the passion she did with James, and she certainly never felt this way before either. Remus' words were coming back to her. _Madly in love_. Madly in love? Ridiculous. She was still too young. But then again, what had James told her just days ago? He loved her? She felt confused. Confusion. She'd felt that a lot this year—and that wasn't a feeling she'd been used to.

"Lily?"

"Mmhm?" Lily asked, her brilliant green eyes looking up at him.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Lily laughed.

"So you've told me." He just smiled at her and opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he just held her, both of them in a comfortable silence. Lily's head was full of only three words: I love you. How could these words make such a big deal. Her head was starting to spin.

"What are you thinking of?" James asked.

"You," Lily said immediately, "Us…"

"Us?"

"Yeah…this is so different. I mean, you're so different…" She stated speaking her mind.

"Different?" he said unsurely.

"Yes…none of my other relationships were like this…you know?" he smiled knowingly.

"That's because we're meant to be," he said grinning, "As I've been telling you for years." Lily laughed and sat up, immediately regretting. He had been so warm and comfortable.

"You know, I think we've been gone an awful long time…"

"Not that long…" he said, beginning to kiss her neck sweetly. Lily protested half heartedly, she wanted to say more but soon she was kissing him back, bodies intwined touching each other as if blind but with more of clumsy caresses and losing herself in the bliss that had become James Potter.

Neither of them went back to the common room that night. James had fallen asleep, holding Lily. Lily was lying on his muscular chest, feeling his breathing, closing her eyes she found herself whispering.

"James Potter, everyone is right. I think I love you."

**A/N:Forget last authors note I'm forgetting that whole thing I'm sticking with teen! Okay, okay, I know James is Chaser, but I had him as a Seeker earlier in the story, so it is going to stay that way. Okay, so read and review! thanks guys! Were almost at 100! Please! It makes me happier and makes me write faster, and makes me not want to give up on the story!  
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	23. Let the Games Begin

**A/N: Hey guys so if you want you can just shoot me. Yup hang me stone me whatever you want. I'm an awful human being. I forgot about my story. I utterly just forgot about it. I totally doubt anyone really cares that much but after many months of hiatus I am back and plan to update more often! So here is this stupid chapter thats been sitting on my computer for months :) enjoy!**

Chapter 23- Let the Games Begin

"I hate the bloody snow." Gwen muttered angrily

Julie chuckled, but Alice just gave Gwen a look

"Quit complaining," Alice ordered.

"Make me," Gwen retorted childishly, sticking out her tongue. Lily glanced up from her novel and raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"Really mature, guys." Lily stated

"Yeah, really mature," Julie repeated, smirking at the pair. Alice yawned and stood up.

"I'm going to find Frank."

"Oh yes…where is he? Actually…where's everyone?" Julie asked, looking around the empty common room. It was a Saturday afternoon, mid march and it was snowing. Lily looked up thoughtfully and was about to put forth her opinion when a smack against the side of the window caught their attention. It was snow.

The four girls clamored to the window, and Lily managed to push the other three out of the way and stick her own head out. She immediately made out the four boys staring up at her from below. She squinted at them.

"JAMES!" she shouted

"HEY LILY!" he yelled back.

"COME DOWN!" Sirius yelled. Lily looked at the other three. Gwen was shaking her head furiously and even Julie looked hesitant.

"ALRIGHT!" Alice yelled and smirked evilly

"Alice!" Gwen groaned. Lily chuckled.

"It'll be fun, trust me. Hold on, let me grab my hat…"

"Yes, because we're going out into a bloody blizzard. Shouldn't it be warming up? It is March you know—"

"Will you quit being such a sourpuss?" Alice said, cutting off Gwen in midrant, "Now, let's get changed. Now! Onward!"

"Merlin, since when did you get so bossy, Alice?" Gwen asked, scowling, "I thought that was Lily's job only."

"Oh, har har," Lily snapped, rolling her eyes. Then she smiled again, "I'll meet you guys in a moment!"

Ten minutes later, Lily was decked out in her Gryffindor scarf, wool cloak and wool hat and red mittens she'd gotten for Christmas.

"You look like a snowman…with red hair," Gwen said, tilting her head, staring at Lily. Gwen had only a cloak on. Lily shook her head.

"At least I'll be warm."

"At least you don't look like a marshmallow," Gwen added, snickering, "Look at Julie." Julie frowned immediately. She was wearing a big white coat and white earmuffs. The girls laughed.

"What? This is very warm—" Julie began defensively.

"Ah, never mind, c'mon, the guys are waiting for us!" Alice said quickly.

"Weren't you going to find Frank?" Julie asked as they made their way downstairs.

"Yeah…but I rather go to a snowball fight!" Alice said excitedly

"Snowball fight?" Julie groaned. Gwen nodded.

"Duh. What else did you think it was? Just making snow angels?" Gwen teased. Julie flushed and Gwen laughed, "Remember, these are the Marauders! Snow angels aren't their thing. I think they like the more violent winter games."

"Right…"

"I agree. Snow sucks," Gwen assured her.

"The snow does not suck!" Alice argued. Lily sighed as Gwen and Alice bickered the rest of the way there. They will still arguing about snow when Sirius' loud voice filled her ears.

"Ah, so you've decided to finally grace us with your presence!" he elbowed Grace suggestively

"Shut up," Gwen snapped and swatted him away from her.

"Moody, are we?"

"Don't even start—"

"Gwen doesn't like the cold, Sirius," Lily said helpfully, "Don't aggravate her more." Sirius only chuckled.

"Are we really going to have a snowball fight?" Julie whined. Lily rolled her eyes while Alice picked up snow and pilled it into a ball. She grinned and threw it at the back of Julie's head. Julie shriek seemed to signify: let the games begin.

Two hours later, the group of eight were trudging in the snow, back to the Gryffindor tower, all wet and covered in snow. The minute they walked through the Entrance Hall there a low voice came out.

"What in the name of Merlin do you think you all are doing?" came a low growling voice. Lily winced as they turned around to see Filch staring at them, his eyes wide with horror as they dripped all over the Entrance Hall floor.

"Oh, sorry Mr.—er—uh," Lily attempted before he cut her off abruptly.

"Detention, all," he did a quick head count, "eight of you."

"Detention?" they all asked outraged.

"What? For a bit of snow?" Julie asked hotly, "I don't think so. It's not against the rules to track in snow. Besides it was an accident—"

"That's enough Miss. All of you! To my office!" They stared at him. Then Sirius started laughing. They all gave Sirius a funny look, but he ignored them and kept laughing.

"You think we'll come with you? Silently, that is? Filch, haven't you learned anything the past seven years?" Sirius asked. James laughed and a smile even tugged at Remus' lips, "You're joking me," Sirius stated simply, "Never took you to be a man with a sense of humor but—"

"Quiet! You—you will not—"

"What, may, I ask, is going on here?" came the stern voice of Professor McGonagall.

"Professor!" Lily cried out, "Filch was giving us detention for—"

"—nothing!" Gwen interrupted, "We just got a bit wet—"

"I see," McGonagall said dryly, eyeing them with almost…amusement, was it? "Mr. Filch, I don't think detention is necessary." McGonagall pulled out her wand and dried them all instantly, "There, that's better, isn't it?" she asked, looking at Filch, "Now, for once, they aren't doing anything wrong." She looked at the Marauders as she said this, her lips twitching, "Well, all of you…off you go," she said, her lips looking much less thin.

"Thanks," Alice squeaked as they all ran off before Filch could put up an argument.

"That was lucky," Alice said as they made it to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah, Sirius was digging us a hole until she showed up," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"I was not!" Sirius defended, "I was getting us out of trouble. Honestly, what could've Filch done against the brightest witches and wizards in the school—hex us?"

"Maybe not but—"

"Besides, I enjoy making him angry. It's what I live for in life."

"If that's what you live for in life, mate, that's pathetic," Remus said, shaking his head and patting his mate on the shoulder.

"Oy!" Sirius said mocking hurt

"He's right you know," Julie agreed, smirking at Sirius.

"Eh, just shut up the lot of you."

As March came to a close, April dawned upon them leaving many of the seventh years frantic. For some reason, April seemed much closer to June than March did. Snow melted and students were frequently found studying in the common room and library or others (such as Lily and Remus) studied in the Great Hall during meals.

Others, not so much.

"Are you really studying, Remy?" Sirius asked one morning during Lunch after a tedious day of note taking in Charms. Remus didn't respond.

"He's got the right idea, I guess," Peter spoke up. He frowned, "I oughta be studying…I failed the Potions O.W.L. …remember? What if the same thing happens for Charms? I don't have a clue what Flitwick was talking about today—" Peter's voice was rising and began to sound more frantic. James chuckled.

"Oy, Pete, relax, we'll help you." James offered

"We will?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Yes, we will," he responded rolling his eyes.

"Why…you actually plan on studying?" Sirius scoffed.

"Of course he does," Lily spoke up. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"He's already been studying," Lily bristled. The look of horror on Sirius' face was too hard to ignore. Both Lily and Gwen burst out laughing. Remus even looked up from his notes to see the commotion.

"You—you—you've been studying with him?" Sirius asked in a hoarse whisper. James was rolling his eye.

"Pads—"

"Prongs! You've been—you've been—you were studying!"

"Er—a bit—"

"Evans, you've brainwashed him," Sirius muttered glumly pushing away his plate, "And I thought it had been bad before…I think you've made me lose my appetite." There was a clatter at this. Gwen had dropped her fork.

"You've lost your appetite?" Gwen asked in a horrified tone

"Er—"

"Oh dear, the Apocalypse is coming," Lily joked. Gwen shook her head, looking in disbelief.

"Well—no, I was lying. It was all a show," Sirius admitted, "Actually, I'm starved," and with that, he pulled back his plate and dug into his shepherd's pie.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Gwen sighed

They quickly finished eating, but on the way out, James stopped Gwen and Lily held back a moment. Sirius and Remus walked on, laughing about something. Peter had rushed off somewhere, and Alice and Julie had been missing all day.

"Gwen, I need you to do me a favor," James said quickly. Gwen raised her eyebrows and looked towards Lily for a split second.

"Alright…what is it?" she inquired.

"I need you to distract Sirius tomorrow."

"Distract him?" Gwen questioned

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, it's his birthday—"

"Oh, right," Gwen paused, narrowing her eyes, "What are you three planning?"

"Us? Nothing bad, I assure you. It's bloody fantastic, that's what it is. Freaking awesome," he added, grinning widely, "It's Sirius' birthday present. Thing is…it's rather large."

"Large?" Gwen repeated, "Right. Any chance you're going to tell me what it is?" James only grinned wider. Gwen sighed.

"Alright. Distraction it is. Perhaps we can do something to…erm…'celebrate' his birthday," she said thoughtfully, a small grin coming over her face. She walked off, lost in her own thoughts. Lily looked at James.

"So, what _did_ you get him?"

"What? You expect me to tell you?" James asked. He smirked, "Sorry love, you'll have to wait just like everyone else."

"James!" Lily whined, as he speedily walked off. She was at his heels the entire time, but he ignored her requests and pleas, "Fine, don't tell me!" she snapped as the entered the common room. James smiled.

"Perfect. I won't," he quipped. Lily rolled her eyes. She should've known reverse psychology wouldn't work on James. With a sigh, she gave up, deciding she could wait with the rest until tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and went, but there was no sign of the present—or Sirius and Gwen either. Lily was in the Head common room with James, and James kept checking anxiously at his watch.

"So…did you get Sirius' present?" she asked

"Yep."

"Where is it? You said it was large—"

"We're the Marauders; we're bound to have good hiding spots."

"But—"

"Oy, lookie there, a bird!"

"James, just tell me what it is?" Lily asked sweetly. James just grinned, his hazel eyes twinkling.

"No can do. I take it you don't like surprises?"

"Nah, too impatient. Well, I guess, unless it's a total surprise—which this is not. So. Tell me," Lily demanded. James only smiled and they fell into silence. Every few minutes, James would check his watch until about nine, he stood up and grinned.

"Comin' Lils?" Jamed asked Lily jerked up; she'd dozed off a bit. She ran a hand through her auburn hair. It was a mess.

"What?" she asked groggily.

"Just get up," he said, laughing at her. She stood up, brushed herself up and followed James out. He led her to the portrait hole where the fat lady was muttering about something. James cleared his throat.

"Er—Devil's snare?" he interrupted. She gave him a ruffled look and swung open. James went over towards the group, Gwen and Sirius were there laughing.

"Oh, look the lovebirds have decided to show," Sirius mocked, noticing James approaching. Lily rolled her eyes, and Sirius grinned.

"I wouldn't be talking, Padfoot," James responded, "Where've you been all day?" Sirius threw James a crooked grin and winked at Gwen, but Lily noticed Gwen blushing slightly while glaring at James. Remus coughed and threw James a significant look.

"Alright, alright," James said, glaring at Remus, "Well, Sirius, since it's your birthday, we actually have something to give you…" Sirius grinned.

"Presents!" Sirius shouted

"Or present," Peter muttered. Both James and Remus shot him a look.

"Hold it Wormtail. Anyway, Remus, would you like to do the honors?" James asked, bowing towards thin air. Remus shook his head.

"Nah, it was your idea. Please, take it away," Remus said, nodding towards nothing. Sirius looked very confused as he looked between his two friends.

"Well? Where—oh." He stopped, his mouth agape. James had just unveiled his present. He had pulled out his wand and it seemed as if it'd just appeared. People in the common room stopped to watch, wondering where it had come from.

"Remus used a disillusionment charm," James began uncertainly. Sirius didn't say anything, "Er—do you like it?"

"Like it?" came Sirius' hoarse voice, "Hell James, I love it!" there was a silence before he said, "Wow," his face broke into a grin, "I guess you're the one who knew I always wanted a motorbike."

"I can't believe you all got him a motorcycle," Julie whispered, her eyes glued to the gleaming bike. Everyone stared at it a bit. The people in the common room eventually went back to their own business.

"Oh, well, that's not all. Guess what, Padfoot?" James prodded, his eyes shining with amusement.

"What?" Sirius asked, disbelieving there could be more.

James smirked pulling out his wand, "It can fly."

**A/N: This chapter probably wasn't good enough to excuse my awfulness, so again I apologize! Don't forget to review! :D**


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